Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Ponoka County works elsewhere: the town has 0.1 jobs for each resident in work
Commutes from Ponoka County average 29.4 minutes, and 11% take an hour or more. Median household income in Ponoka County was $91,700 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Of Ponoka County’s residents aged 15 to 64, 79% were employed when the 2021 census was taken; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Work in Ponoka County: the figures worth knowing
More people in work than most towns
With 79% 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 ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 29.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 11% last an hour or longer. 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.
Ponoka County grades B for jobs and income
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #190 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.
In Ponoka County, 79% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
All 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 8 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 66% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 68% of residents that age. Counting retirees, 62% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
Commuting times in Ponoka County
Only 30% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 29 minutes. 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.
Without a car, 3% of Ponoka County’s commuters get to work
31% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.3% of commuters, 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).
Ponoka County empties a little on a working day
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 26 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 3.3% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
97% of Ponoka County’s residents in work leave it to work; Ponoka takes the most
- Ponoka860
- Rimbey620
- Lacombe180
- Red Deer160
- Lacombe County85
- Blackfalds50
- Red Deer County40
- Wetaskiwin35
- Bentley30
- Bashaw30
Inbound, the leader is Ponoka (20).
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 Ponoka County
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 78% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Ponoka County’s median is 1% below. 4 of the 10 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 8 have a higher median. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
In Census Division No. 8, 5% more people receive EI than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.4 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 6%. At its peak, in February 2021, 13,700 people were on EI, 3.1 times the 2019 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).
The Walkability grade for Ponoka County: D
Better than 13% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #461 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Ponoka County ranks: 254th of 645 Canadian towns of 7,500 to 14,400
| # | 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 Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Lakeview Alberta | 12,799 | 75% | 11% | $125K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 252 | Windsor Park Alberta | 7,863 | 74% | 12% | $82K | B |
| 253 | Lacombe County Alberta | 11,072 | 78% | 8.8% | $89K | B |
| 254 | Ponoka County Alberta | 10,670 | 79% | 8.5% | $92K | B |
| 255 | Marieville Quebec | 11,910 | 85% | 4.7% | $78K | B |
| 256 | North Riverdale Ontario | 11,491 | 75% | 8.9% | $116K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 645 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Ponoka County, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Next to Ponoka County: how nearby places compare
No closer places have figures: these lie 22–23 km from Ponoka County.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponoka County | 79% | 8.5% | $92K | 29.4 min | B | D |
| Bentley 21.6 km | 69% | 17% | $78K | 26.2 min | C− | B |
| Rimbey 22.2 km | 63% | 16% | $58K | 18.9 min | C− | A+ |
| Lacombe 22.2 km | 72% | 12% | $89K | 21.7 min | B | B+ |
| Ponoka 22.5 km | 75% | 9.5% | $77K | 20 min | B | A− |
| Lacombe County 23 km | 78% | 8.8% | $89K | 27.9 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 Ponoka County, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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.
- 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 Ponoka County
How do people in Ponoka County get to work?
By car: 95% of commuters, 0.3% take public transit and 2.7% walk; on census day 31% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Ponoka County?
29.4 minutes is the average trip, with 30% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 11% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Ponoka County work?
3.3% work in Ponoka County itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Ponoka (860), then Rimbey (620).
How many jobs are there in Ponoka County?
In June 2026, 96 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Ponoka County?
The 2021 census found 8.5% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Red Deer economic region, is 5.3% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Ponoka County?
At $91,700 before tax in 2020, the median household in Ponoka County compares with $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).