Photo: Nathan Schneider, aka Schnits at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Penhold works elsewhere: the town has 0.3 jobs for each resident in work
Half the households in Penhold had more than $98,700 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. 74% of people aged 15 to 64 in Penhold had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. In May 2021, unemployment in Penhold reached 11%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
What Penhold’s work numbers say
Work near the middle
74% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 66%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 5.3% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 11%, 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.
Penhold grades B+ for jobs and income
Better than 67% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #135 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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Penhold
About 4 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. Of those who commute, 13% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
87% of Penhold’s residents in work leave it to work; Red Deer takes the most
- Red Deer575
- Red Deer County170
- Innisfail125
- Olds30
- Fort McMurray25
- Calgary10
- Carstairs10
- Bowden10
- Sylvan Lake10
- Blackfalds10
Of those coming in, Red Deer County supplies the most: 105.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Penhold
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 8, 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
75% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 66% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 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.
How Penhold’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 84% of Canadian towns.
That puts Penhold 7% above the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. One of the 10 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 8 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 3.2% of Penhold’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 9.1%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 95% 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).
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Penhold average 24.9 minutes
Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 6% take an hour or more, against 7%. Timed exactly, the average is 22.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). Only 26% get to work within a quarter-hour, 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.
EI claims in Census Division No. 8 run 5% above their 2019 level
That is about 3.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 6%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 13,700 people on EI, 3.1 times 2019’s average.
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. 8. 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 Penhold is: B
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #373 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 2,700 to 5,100, Penhold ranks 240th of 748 for jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 238 | Mactaggart Alberta | 3,603 | 73% | 9% | $122K | B+ |
| 239 | Altona Manitoba | 4,989 | 74% | 5.2% | $72K | B+ |
| 240 | Penhold Alberta | 3,812 | 74% | 11% | $99K | B+ |
| 241 | Roxton Pond Quebec | 4,884 | 83% | 6% | $79K | B+ |
| 242 | Horning Ontario | 4,587 | 75% | 14% | $121K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 748 | 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 Penhold, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Penhold and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penhold | 74% | 11% | $99K | 24.9 min | B+ | B |
| Red Deer County 4.5 km | 77% | 8.5% | $94K | 27.5 min | B | C |
| Innisfail 14.3 km | 73% | 11% | $76K | 20.8 min | B− | B+ |
| Red Deer 15.8 km | 70% | 12% | $85K | 20 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 Penhold, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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. 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.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Penhold
What is the average household income in Penhold?
The census puts Penhold at $98,700 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Penhold get to work?
95% of commuters go by car, 3.2% walk. On census day 9.1% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Penhold?
On average 24.9 minutes; 26% take under 15 minutes and 6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Penhold work?
13% work in Penhold itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Red Deer (575), then Red Deer County (170).
How many jobs are there in Penhold?
About 380 people had their usual place of work in Penhold at the 2021 census, 0.3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 73 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Penhold?
Two figures answer it: 11% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.3% for the Red Deer economic region in the Labour Force Survey of 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).