Photo: Qyd · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Hinton top those of 90% of Canadian towns
12% of the labour force in Hinton was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The average trip to work from Hinton is 17.4 minutes; 6.8% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Jobs were held by 72% of people aged 15 to 64 in Hinton in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What Hinton’s work numbers say
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $104,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 3,880 jobs based in Hinton and 3,565 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 17.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.8% last an hour or longer. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Hinton grades A
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #33 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
Graded against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more; less unemployment and a shorter commute count in its favour.
How the grade works
Census 2021 measures, weighed equally against every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 people or more: the share of residents aged 15 to 64 in work, median household income (2020), the unemployment rate and the average commute. Each becomes a percentile; their average sets the letter.
The median household in Hinton had $104,800 in 2020
Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Hinton’s median is 14% above. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Every working day, Hinton’s workforce grows by 8%
Each resident commuting out of Hinton is matched by about 2 coming in. The job is inside the municipality for 92% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from Hinton takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 16.5 minutes. The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 70% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: commuting duration in five bands; our average uses each band’s middle (75 minutes for an hour or more), so it runs about two minutes above Statistics Canada’s own.
607 people come into Hinton to work, most from Yellowhead County and Edson
16% of the people who work in Hinton live outside it, 325 of them in Yellowhead County, 105 km away. Outbound, Yellowhead County takes the most: 55 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Hinton has a job
A smaller share in work than in 65% of Canadian towns.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 63% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 69% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: people in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64, and the census unemployment rate (15 and over); the 25-to-54 rate is Statistics Canada’s own (98-10-0485). The Labour Force Survey and business counts are context, not grade inputs.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 8.3% of Hinton’s commuters
Transit takes 2.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Alberta’s towns has 2.5% walking; here, 5.7% do. Nearly everyone drives: 91% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In Census Division No. 14, 12% more people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 9%. At its peak, in April 2021, 2,070 people were on EI, 3.6 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 3.6 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of Census Division No. 14. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
How walkable Hinton is: A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #270 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 7,100 to 13,700, Hinton ranks 72nd of 658 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 29 | Peace River Alberta | 7,220 | 76% | 7.9% | $99K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 70 | Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier Quebec | 9,830 | 83% | 4.3% | $99K | A |
| 71 | West St. Paul Manitoba | 10,796 | 80% | 6.5% | $124K | A |
| 72 | Hinton Alberta | 10,124 | 72% | 12% | $105K | A |
| 73 | Southdale Manitoba | 8,210 | 76% | 7.4% | $113K | A |
| 74 | Tyndall Park Manitoba | 12,393 | 77% | 7.6% | $105K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 658 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Hinton, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Hinton and its neighbours: work and income
The nearest places to Hinton with figures are 67–105 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinton | 72% | 12% | $105K | 17.4 min | A | A− |
| Jasper 67.2 km | 67% | 9.1% | $98K | 12.3 min | A− | A+ |
| Edson 77.5 km | 72% | 11% | $98K | 17.1 min | A | A− |
| Yellowhead County 104.9 km | 71% | 12% | $90K | 29 min | C | C |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and the average commute, with both grades once they come.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Hinton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Hinton
What is the average household income in Hinton?
Hinton’s middle household had $104,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Hinton get to work?
Driving takes 91% of commuters to work, 2.2% take public transit, 5.7% walk and 0.4% cycle, and on census day 6.8% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Hinton?
About 17.4 minutes on average, with 70% under a quarter-hour and 6.8% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Hinton work?
92% work in Hinton itself; of those who leave, the most go to Yellowhead County (55), then Edson (55).
How many jobs are there in Hinton?
Some 3,880 people worked in Hinton at the 2021 census: 1.1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 531 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Hinton?
Two figures answer it: 12% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.6% for the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · Statistics Canada, tables 98-10-0458 and 98-10-0459 (commuting) · Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0323 (EI beneficiaries) · Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (14-10-0459, 14-10-0462) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Counts (33-10-1176) · grades: TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).