Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHouseholds in Olds have higher incomes than those in 63% of Canadian towns
In Olds, 78% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Olds is the usual workplace of 4,645 people, and 3,105 of its own residents commute to a job. 9.8% of the labour force in Olds was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Work in Olds: the figures worth knowing
A local job centre
With 4,645 jobs based in Olds and 3,105 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 19.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.3% last an hour or longer. 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.
Olds grades A for jobs and income
Better than 86% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #45 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.
Olds fills up on a working day: 43% more workers
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 3 to 1 in Olds. Of those who commute, 75% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
At 19.4 minutes, commutes from Olds are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Trips under 15 minutes: 62%, more than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 6.3%. Timed exactly, the average is 17.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 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.
2,322 people come into Olds to work, most from Mountain View County and Didsbury
- Mountain View County855
- Didsbury365
- Calgary150
- Innisfail125
- Airdrie115
- Red Deer County115
- Carstairs110
- Red Deer110
- Bowden95
- Sundre60
- Sundre165
- Didsbury120
- Calgary100
- Red Deer75
- Innisfail65
- Red Deer County35
- Carstairs30
- Bowden30
- Airdrie25
- Fort McMurray20
50% of the people who work in Olds live outside it, 855 of them in Mountain View County, 18 km away. Sundre is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 165 of them.
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 Olds were working in 2021
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 147 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 58% were working. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 66% in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 64% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Half the households in Olds had more than $83,400 in 2020
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6, 123 have a higher median. The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Olds is 10% below it. 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).
Olds gets to work without a car for 8% of commuters
Few ride transit: 0.3%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. On foot: 6.6% of commuters, well above the 2.5% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Nearly everyone drives: 91% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 12% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In Census Division No. 6, 35% more people receive EI than in 2019
The count topped out in January 2021 at 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 average. That is about 4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 1%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: Census Division No. 6. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walkability in Olds: graded A−
Better than 80% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #266 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Olds next to Canadian towns of 6,800 to 13,000: 93rd of 640 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 27 | Peace River Alberta | 7,220 | 76% | 7.9% | $99K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 91 | Casa Loma Ontario | 11,369 | 82% | 11% | $107K | A |
| 92 | Puslinch Ontario | 8,577 | 80% | 9.3% | $134K | A |
| 93 | Olds Alberta | 9,653 | 78% | 9.8% | $83K | A |
| 94 | Carignan Quebec | 12,618 | 84% | 5.2% | $122K | A |
| 95 | Lynden Ontario | 10,442 | 81% | 5.8% | $114K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 640 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Olds, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The places around Olds, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olds | 78% | 9.8% | $83K | 19.4 min | A | A− |
| Didsbury 15.1 km | 76% | 10% | $78K | 26.6 min | C+ | B+ |
| Bowden 16.4 km | 62% | 23% | $69K | 29.5 min | D | B |
| Mountain View County 18 km | 85% | 7.9% | $94K | 30.8 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 Olds, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed 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.
- 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.
- 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 Olds
How long is the commute from Olds?
On average 19.4 minutes; 62% take under 15 minutes and 6.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Olds work?
Most stay: 75% work in Olds. The rest go first to Sundre (165) and Didsbury (120).
How many jobs are there in Olds?
About 4,645 people had their usual place of work in Olds at the 2021 census, 1.5 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 511 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Olds?
Two figures answer it: 9.8% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.6% for the Calgary economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Olds?
The census puts Olds at $83,400 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Olds get to work?
91% of commuters go by car, 0.3% take public transit, 6.6% walk and 1.1% cycle. On census day 12% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).