Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHouseholds in Lethbridge County have higher incomes than those in 85% of Canadian towns
On census day, 33% of workers here were at home, next to 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Lethbridge County is the usual workplace of 2,975 people, and 2,325 of its own residents commute to a job. At the 2021 census, Lethbridge County sat at the middle of Canadian towns on work: 73% of 15-to-64s had a job.
Work in Lethbridge County: the figures worth knowing
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 5.2% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 4.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
At $99,600 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 2,975 jobs based in Lethbridge County and 2,325 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 22.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4.2% last an hour or longer. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 33% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. 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.
On jobs and income, Lethbridge County grades A−
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #106 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.
In and out of work in Lethbridge County
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 2, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 60% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 71% of residents that age. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
Before tax, the median household in Lethbridge County had $99,600
No other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 2 has a higher median. Lethbridge County’s median is 8% above the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
On a working day Lethbridge County gains 17% in workers
The job is inside the municipality for 22% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
22.3 minutes from Lethbridge County to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
An hour or more: 4.2% of commuters, under the 7% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 20 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. Only 37% get to work within a quarter-hour, 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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 5.3% of Lethbridge County’s commuters
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 93% 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).
2,468 people come into Lethbridge County to work, most from Lethbridge and Coaldale
- Lethbridge1,525
- Coaldale260
- Picture Butte155
- Coalhurst100
- Nobleford75
- Taber70
- Taber55
- Warner County No. 530
- Willow Creek No. 2630
- Raymond25
- Lethbridge1,020
- Coaldale220
- Picture Butte115
- Coalhurst100
- Nobleford100
- Taber60
- Barons30
- Fort Macleod30
- Vauxhall20
- Cardston County15
83% of the people who work in Lethbridge County live outside it, 1,525 of them in Lethbridge, 18 km away. Lethbridge is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 1,020 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
EI claims in Census Division No. 2 run 27% above their 2019 level
That is about 3.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%. The highest month was January 2021: 8,020 people, 2.7 times the 2019 level.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for Census Division No. 2, not by town. 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 Lethbridge County is: C
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #436 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
153rd of 650: where Lethbridge County ranks among Canadian towns of 7,700 to 14,800
| # | 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 Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Lakeview Alberta | 12,799 | 75% | 11% | $125K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Lake Bonavista Alberta | 11,154 | 76% | 11% | $138K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 151 | Dawson Creek British Columbia | 13,635 | 74% | 9.8% | $81K | A− |
| 152 | Nicolet Quebec | 8,737 | 83% | 4% | $66K | A− |
| 153 | Lethbridge County Alberta | 10,988 | 73% | 4.6% | $100K | A− |
| 154 | Orleans Village - Chateauneuf Ontario | 12,399 | 74% | 9.2% | $126K | A− |
| 155 | Augusta Ontario | 7,767 | 78% | 7.9% | $96K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 650 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Lethbridge County, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The work picture around Lethbridge County
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lethbridge County | 73% | 4.6% | $100K | 22.3 min | A− | C |
| Picture Butte 3.8 km | 76% | 3.5% | $81K | 18.2 min | A− | B+ |
| Coalhurst 14.7 km | 73% | 10% | $92K | 24.2 min | B | C+ |
| Lethbridge 17.6 km | 74% | 9.4% | $82K | 18 min | A− | B+ |
| Coaldale 17.9 km | 76% | 7.9% | $91K | 21.7 min | A− | B− |
| Nobleford 19.1 km | 70% | 4% | $89K | 24.7 min | B− | 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 Lethbridge County, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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 Lethbridge County
Where do people in Lethbridge County work?
22% work in Lethbridge County itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Lethbridge (1,020), then Coaldale (220).
How many jobs are there in Lethbridge County?
The 2021 census found about 2,975 people with their usual workplace in Lethbridge County, or 1.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 352 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Lethbridge County?
Two figures answer it: 4.6% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.2% for the Lethbridge metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Lethbridge County?
Lethbridge County’s middle household had $99,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Lethbridge County get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 5.3% walk; 33% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Lethbridge County?
The average commute is 22.3 minutes; 37% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.2% 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).