Photo: Rural Health Professions Action Plan from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada · CC BY 2.0Kneehill County has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0 for each
Median household income in Kneehill County was $91,500 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. On census day, 36% of workers here were at home, next to 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Of Kneehill County’s residents aged 15 to 64, 77% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Kneehill County and work: the main findings
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 77% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 66%. In work ↓
Many work from home
36% of workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Kneehill County earns B for jobs and income
Better than 62% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #183 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 5.3% of Kneehill County’s commuters
On foot: 4.6% of commuters, well above the 2.5% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. The car is the way to work for 91% of commuters. Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Kneehill County is quieter on a working day than at night
For every person who comes in to work, about 539 residents travel out. Of those who commute, 3.8% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
96% of Kneehill County’s residents in work leave it to work; Three Hills takes the most
No other place sends enough people to work in Kneehill County to be counted.
- Three Hills265
- Linden235
- Trochu125
- Drumheller110
- Acme90
- Calgary45
- Olds40
- Carbon30
- Red Deer County25
- Innisfail25
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Kneehill County at work: 77% of people aged 15 to 64
All 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 57% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 72% of residents that age. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Household income in Kneehill County
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 77% of Canadian towns.
One of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 5 has a higher median. The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Kneehill County is 1% below it. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
At 27.4 minutes, commutes from Kneehill County are close to the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 24.9 minutes. In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 42% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. An hour or more: 14% of commuters, above the 7% 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.
In Census Division No. 5, 23% more people receive EI than in 2019
Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for Census Division No. 5 as a whole, not for Kneehill County alone.
That is about 3.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 5%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,480 people on EI, 2.7 times 2019’s average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walkability in Kneehill County: graded C+
Better than 41% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #410 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Kneehill County places 275th of 720 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 3,600 to 6,900
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Richmond Alberta | 4,811 | 79% | 9.2% | $114K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 273 | Crystallina Nera East Alberta | 5,566 | 73% | 12% | $112K | B |
| 274 | Willow Creek No. 26 Alberta | 6,225 | 77% | 3.4% | $81K | B |
| 275 | Kneehill County Alberta | 5,129 | 77% | 7.7% | $92K | B |
| 276 | Anniedale British Columbia | 6,715 | 75% | 8.7% | $125K | B |
| 277 | Mayliewan Alberta | 4,259 | 70% | 11% | $120K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 720 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Kneehill County, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work next door to Kneehill County
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kneehill County | 77% | 7.7% | $92K | 27.4 min | B | C+ |
| Three Hills 2.1 km | 75% | 12% | $76K | 16.6 min | B+ | A+ |
| Trochu 12.9 km | 85% | 11% | $73K | 18 min | A | A |
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 Kneehill County, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Kneehill County
Where do people in Kneehill County work?
3.8% work in Kneehill County itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Three Hills (265), then Linden (235).
How many jobs are there in Kneehill County?
In June 2026, 102 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Kneehill County?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Camrose-Drumheller economic region at 8.8%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 7.7%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Kneehill County?
Before tax, half the households in Kneehill County had more than $91,500 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Kneehill County get to work?
By car: 91% of commuters, 0.7% take public transit and 4.6% walk; on census day 36% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Kneehill County?
27.4 minutes is the average trip, with 42% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 14% taking an hour or more.
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).