Photo: Cszmurlo · CC BY 2.5Working-age people in Magrath have jobs less often than in 85% of Canadian towns
420 people have their usual place of work in Magrath, against 595 residents who travel to a job. Half the households in Magrath had more than $87,300 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. The 2021 census put unemployment in Magrath at 8.7%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Magrath and work: the main findings
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 50% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 66%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.3% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 8.7%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs & income in Magrath: graded C+
Better than 40% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #326 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 Magrath, 66% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 3, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 50% of residents 15 and over were in work. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Working or looking, 55% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Magrath empties a little on a working day
About 2 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. The job is inside the municipality for 39% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
61% of Magrath’s residents in work leave it to work; Lethbridge takes the most
Of those coming in, Cardston County supplies the most: 75.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Magrath
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 70% of Canadian towns.
One of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 3 has a higher median. That puts Magrath 5% 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).
Magrath gets to work without a car for 6.6% of commuters
Home was the workplace for 15%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Magrath has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 23.7 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 22.1 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Within a quarter-hour: 40% of commuters, much as in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 3.3% take an hour or more, against 7%.
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. 3, 17% more people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 6%. In April 2021 it reached 1,410, the most in the series and 2.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 2.8 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
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. 3. 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 Magrath is: A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #268 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Magrath is 243rd of 424 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,500
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 241 | Carpenter Ontario | 2,941 | 63% | 9.6% | $122K | C+ |
| 242 | Elmwood Alberta | 2,522 | 63% | 18% | $91K | C+ |
| 243 | Magrath Alberta | 2,566 | 66% | 8.7% | $87K | C+ |
| 244 | Anmore British Columbia | 2,508 | 72% | 6.1% | $165K | C+ |
| 245 | Butler Ontario | 2,922 | 66% | 12% | $98K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 424 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Magrath, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Magrath and its neighbours: work and income
Magrath has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 16–32 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magrath | 66% | 8.7% | $87K | 23.7 min | C+ | A− |
| Raymond 15.6 km | 69% | 8.1% | $86K | 23.6 min | B− | B+ |
| Stirling 26.1 km | 68% | 8.9% | $86K | 28.6 min | C | B− |
| Lethbridge 30.2 km | 74% | 9.4% | $82K | 18 min | A− | B+ |
| Blood 148 32 km | 37% | 23% | $68K | 25.6 min | D | C |
| Warner County No. 5 32.5 km | 50% | 3% | $90K | 22.7 min | C+ | D |
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 Magrath, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Magrath
What is the unemployment rate in Magrath?
The census put unemployment at 8.7% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region at 6.3%.
What is the average household income in Magrath?
The census puts Magrath at $87,300 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Magrath get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 6.6% walk. On census day 15% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Magrath?
On average 23.7 minutes; 40% take under 15 minutes and 3.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Magrath work?
Only 39% work in Magrath itself; the rest go first to Lethbridge (220) and Cardston (55).
How many jobs are there in Magrath?
About 420 people had their usual place of work in Magrath at the 2021 census, 0.7 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 74 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).