Photo: Brett Snyder ( 1brettsnyder at en.wikipedia ) · CC BY 1.0Household incomes in Newell County are higher than in 78% of Canadian towns
Home was the workplace for 31% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Most commutes from Newell County take well under an hour: the average is 20.4 minutes, and 5.2% take 60 minutes or longer. At the 2021 census, Newell County sat at the middle of Canadian towns on work: 73% of 15-to-64s had a job.
What the numbers say about work in Newell County
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 7% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 6.3% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 20.4 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 5.2% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
31% 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.
Jobs & income in Newell County: graded A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #81 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.
How many in Newell County were working in 2021
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 2, 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
72% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 59% in October 2026. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Time on the road to work from Newell County
Trips under 15 minutes: 48%, more than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.6 minutes. In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes.
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.
4.6% of commuters from Newell County go without a car
Transit takes 0.6% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
More workers leave Newell County each day than arrive
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
79% of Newell County’s residents in work leave it to work; Brooks takes the most
- Brooks855
- Duchess45
- Calgary25
- Taber20
- Vauxhall20
- Medicine Hat10
- Lethbridge County10
- Taber10
- Bassano10
- Hanna10
- Brooks1,065
- Rosemary80
- Duchess60
- Bassano60
- Coaldale35
- Taber25
- Lethbridge15
- Medicine Hat10
- Vauxhall10
- Special Area No. 210
In the other direction the biggest source is Brooks, with 855.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Newell County households: $92,100 a year at the median
One of the 9 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 2 has a higher median. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
27% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 2 than in 2019
That works out to around 3.3 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 8,020, the most in the series and 2.7 times the 2019 average.
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. 2. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Getting around Newell County on foot earns C+
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #422 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Newell County is 140th among 686 Canadian towns of 5,500 to 10,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 138 | St. Marys Ontario | 8,203 | 76% | 10% | $86K | A− |
| 139 | Beauceville Quebec | 6,228 | 84% | 4.7% | $66K | A− |
| 140 | Newell County Alberta | 7,846 | 73% | 7% | $92K | A− |
| 141 | Stettler Alberta | 6,035 | 76% | 9.2% | $76K | A− |
| 142 | Bienville Quebec | 7,888 | 83% | 6.3% | $103K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 686 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Newell County, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The work picture around Newell County
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newell County | 73% | 7% | $92K | 20.4 min | A− | C+ |
| Brooks 4.9 km | 72% | 8.8% | $91K | 15.1 min | A− | B+ |
| Duchess 17.4 km | 68% | 13% | $95K | 28.1 min | C | B− |
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 Newell County, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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.
- 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 Newell County
How many jobs are there in Newell County?
Some 1,385 people worked in Newell County at the 2021 census: 0.8 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 196 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Newell County?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region at 6.3%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 7%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Newell County?
At $92,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Newell County compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Newell County get to work?
Driving takes 94% of commuters to work, 0.6% take public transit, 3.4% walk and 0.6% cycle, and on census day 31% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Newell County?
About 20.4 minutes on average, with 48% under a quarter-hour and 5.2% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Newell County work?
Only 21% work in Newell County itself; the rest go first to Brooks (1,065) and Rosemary (80).
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).