Photo: Kmsiever · Public domainLethbridge’s household incomes are higher than in 61% of Canadian towns
Of Lethbridge’s residents aged 15 to 64, 74% were employed when the 2021 census was taken; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. From Lethbridge, the drive or ride to work averages 18 minutes, with 3.1% going an hour or longer. The 2021 census put unemployment in Lethbridge at 9.4%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
What the numbers say about work in Lethbridge
More jobs than the typical town
34,730 people work in Lethbridge and 33,870 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 18 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.1% take an hour or more. 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.
Lethbridge earns A− for jobs and income
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #107 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
As many come into Lethbridge to work as leave
The job is inside the municipality for 86% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 18 minutes from Lethbridge
Timed exactly, the average is 16.1 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 52% 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.
5,602 people come into Lethbridge to work, most from Coaldale and Lethbridge County
- Coaldale1,370
- Lethbridge County1,020
- Coalhurst585
- Raymond410
- Magrath220
- Calgary215
- Cardston County180
- Stirling175
- Warner County No. 5165
- Taber130
- Lethbridge County1,525
- Coaldale645
- Taber355
- Coalhurst215
- Fort Macleod205
- Blood 148150
- Picture Butte140
- Nobleford130
- Calgary130
- Fort McMurray110
Of everyone working in Lethbridge, 16% come in from elsewhere; 1,370 make the 16 km trip from Coaldale. Outbound, Lethbridge County takes the most: 1,525 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In Lethbridge, 74% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 2, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 60% of the wider area’s adults in work. Working or looking, 65% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 59% were working. 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 had $82,300
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 2, 8 have a higher median. That puts Lethbridge 11% below the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Without a car, 6.9% of Lethbridge’s commuters get to work
Home was the workplace for 13%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 2.3%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 92% 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. 2, 27% more people receive EI than in 2019
Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for Census Division No. 2 as a whole, not for Lethbridge alone.
At its peak, in January 2021, 8,020 people were on EI, 2.7 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.3 receive EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%.
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).
The Walkability grade for Lethbridge: B+
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Lethbridge is 6th among 42 Canadian towns of 79,600 to 153,500
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 77% | 9.1% | $124K | A− |
| 4 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 75% | 7.4% | $88K | A− |
| 5 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 73% | 9.4% | $88K | A− |
| 6 | Lethbridge Alberta | 113,671 | 74% | 9.4% | $82K | A− |
| 7 | Saguenay Quebec | 151,972 | 78% | 5.5% | $69K | B+ |
| 8 | Airdrie Alberta | 92,544 | 75% | 11% | $110K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Red Deer Alberta | 115,409 | 70% | 12% | $85K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Wood Buffalo Alberta | 81,611 | 74% | 8.7% | $183K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Lethbridge, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Jobs near Lethbridge: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lethbridge | 74% | 9.4% | $82K | 18 min | A− | B+ |
| Coalhurst 8.5 km | 73% | 10% | $92K | 24.2 min | B | C+ |
| Coaldale 16.4 km | 76% | 7.9% | $91K | 21.7 min | A− | B− |
| Lethbridge County 17.6 km | 73% | 4.6% | $100K | 22.3 min | A− | 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, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Lethbridge
What is the average household income in Lethbridge?
At $82,300 before tax in 2020, the median household in Lethbridge compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Lethbridge get to work?
92% of commuters drive, 2.3% take public transit, 3.6% walk and 1% cycle; 13% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Lethbridge?
The average commute is 18 minutes; 52% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.1% an hour or more.
Where do people in Lethbridge work?
Most stay: 86% work in Lethbridge. The rest go first to Lethbridge County (1,525) and Coaldale (645).
How many jobs are there in Lethbridge?
The 2021 census found about 34,730 people with their usual workplace in Lethbridge, or 1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 3,883 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Lethbridge?
At the 2021 census 9.4% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Lethbridge metro area, gives 5.2% in 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).