Photo: Xz1303 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Okotoks are higher than in 96% of Canadian towns
9.2% of the labour force in Okotoks was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Jobs located in Okotoks: 6,250, for 8,445 residents with a usual workplace. Okotoks counted 75% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
The work numbers behind Okotoks
Work near the middle
With 75% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 62% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $117,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Okotoks: B+
Better than 66% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #140 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.
Before tax, the median household in Okotoks had $117,800
46 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 6 have a higher median. Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, Okotoks sits 28% above. 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).
More go out than come in: the working day in Okotoks
About 2 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. 42% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
58% of Okotoks’ residents in work leave it to work; Calgary takes the most
- Calgary3,160
- High River485
- Foothills County425
- Rocky View County240
- Fort McMurray140
- Black Diamond90
- Coaldale45
- Wheatland County25
- Turner Valley25
- Longview20
Inbound, the leader is Calgary (1,305).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Okotoks were working in 2021
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 107 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 62% of residents 15 and over were in work. In October 2026, 66% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 68% of residents that age. 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.
5.4% of commuters in Okotoks walk, cycle or take transit
Home was the workplace for 22%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Transit takes 1.1% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. 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).
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Okotoks average 27.2 minutes
Trips under 15 minutes: 34%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 5.7% take an hour or more, against 7%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 25 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.
35% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 6 than in 2019
Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for Census Division No. 6 as a whole, not for Okotoks alone.
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. The highest month was January 2021: 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 level. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI.
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).
On getting around on foot, Okotoks grades B+
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Okotoks is 50th of 202 Canadian towns of 23,400 to 45,200
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 34 | Fort Saskatchewan Alberta | 30,575 | 74% | 11% | $113K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 39 | Grande Prairie County No. 1 Alberta | 25,883 | 78% | 9.6% | $120K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Spruce Grove Alberta | 44,575 | 75% | 10% | $107K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Saint-Georges Quebec | 33,881 | 80% | 5.6% | $64K | B+ |
| 49 | Leduc Alberta | 39,966 | 74% | 12% | $100K | B+ |
| 50 | Okotoks Alberta | 33,482 | 75% | 9.2% | $118K | B+ |
| 51 | Conception Bay South Newfoundland and Labrador | 29,725 | 72% | 11% | $94K | B+ |
| 52 | Foothills County Alberta | 25,789 | 78% | 8.7% | $133K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 202 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Okotoks, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work in and around Okotoks
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okotoks | 75% | 9.2% | $118K | 27.2 min | B+ | B+ |
| Foothills County 5.4 km | 78% | 8.7% | $133K | 32.2 min | B+ | C |
| Legacy 15.3 km | 80% | 8.9% | $103K | 31.4 min | B+ | C+ |
| Walden 17 km | 75% | 11% | $113K | 28.6 min | B | A− |
| High River 17.2 km | 76% | 9.9% | $82K | 23.3 min | B | B+ |
| Cranston 17.6 km | 76% | 9.5% | $129K | 27.3 min | B+ | A− |
| Chaparral 18.2 km | 73% | 12% | $140K | 26.8 min | B | 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 Okotoks, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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. 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.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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 Okotoks
How do people in Okotoks get to work?
By car: 92% of commuters, 1.1% take public transit, 3.9% walk and 0.4% cycle; on census day 22% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Okotoks?
27.2 minutes is the average trip, with 34% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.7% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Okotoks work?
Only 42% work in Okotoks itself; the rest go first to Calgary (3,160) and High River (485).
How many jobs are there in Okotoks?
The 2021 census counted about 6,250 people working in Okotoks: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 1,171 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Okotoks?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Calgary economic region at 6.6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.2%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Okotoks?
The median household in Okotoks had $117,800 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).