Photo: Ribbet32 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Red Deer County have higher incomes than those in 80% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census found 77% of working-age people in Red Deer County employed, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Red Deer County take well under an hour: the average is 27.5 minutes, and 7.6% take 60 minutes or longer. Census day 2021 found 8.5% of Red Deer County’s labour force without a job, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Red Deer County: what the figures say
Work near the middle
77% 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 63%. In work ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 5,940 jobs based in Red Deer County and 5,265 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Red Deer County earns B for jobs and income
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #191 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.
Every working day, Red Deer County’s workforce grows by 9%
Of those who commute, 25% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
4,645 people come into Red Deer County to work, most from Red Deer and Sylvan Lake
- Red Deer2,975
- Sylvan Lake330
- Blackfalds285
- Penhold170
- Innisfail165
- Lacombe120
- Lacombe County95
- Clearwater County90
- Calgary85
- Edmonton45
- Red Deer1,980
- Innisfail675
- Sylvan Lake155
- Lacombe County150
- Olds115
- Penhold105
- Blackfalds100
- Delburne65
- Fort McMurray65
- Bowden60
78% of the people who work in Red Deer County live outside it, 2,975 of them in Red Deer, 12 km away. Going the other way, Red Deer is the biggest single destination (1,980).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Red Deer County has a job
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 8, 8 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 63%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 66% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 68% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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 Red Deer County had more than $94,300 in 2020
2 of the 10 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 8 have a higher median. Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, Red Deer County sits 2% above. 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).
Red Deer County gets to work without a car for 3.3% of commuters
Few ride transit: 0.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Working at home: 27% here, 21% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Time on the road to work from Red Deer County
The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. Only 26% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 25.4 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
5% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 8 than in 2019
Red Deer County doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from Census Division No. 8.
That works out to around 3.4 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 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. 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, Red Deer County grades C
Better than 27% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #443 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Red Deer County next to Canadian towns of 15,500 to 29,800: 118th of 390 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| 3 | Cap-Rouge Quebec | 17,139 | 81% | 4.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Canmore Alberta | 17,341 | 79% | 9.7% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Lloydminster (Part) Alberta | 21,267 | 75% | 11% | $98K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Cold Lake Alberta | 17,798 | 75% | 7.8% | $105K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 116 | Du Plateau Quebec | 29,234 | 77% | 8.4% | $96K | B |
| 117 | Fort York-Liberty Village Ontario | 20,071 | 82% | 8.6% | $94K | B |
| 118 | Red Deer County Alberta | 22,076 | 77% | 8.5% | $94K | B |
| 119 | Uxbridge Ontario | 22,618 | 79% | 8.4% | $117K | B |
| 120 | Camrose Alberta | 20,800 | 73% | 13% | $77K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 390 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Red Deer County, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Around Red Deer County: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Deer County | 77% | 8.5% | $94K | 27.5 min | B | C |
| Penhold 4.5 km | 74% | 11% | $99K | 24.9 min | B+ | B |
| Red Deer 11.8 km | 70% | 12% | $85K | 20 min | B | A− |
| Innisfail 18.3 km | 73% | 11% | $76K | 20.8 min | B− | 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 Red Deer County, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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 Red Deer County
How many jobs are there in Red Deer County?
About 5,940 people had their usual place of work in Red Deer County at the 2021 census, 1.1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 1,118 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Red Deer County?
Two figures answer it: 8.5% 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.
What is the average household income in Red Deer County?
The census puts Red Deer County at $94,300 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Red Deer County get to work?
94% of commuters go by car, 0.6% take public transit and 2.7% walk. On census day 27% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Red Deer County?
On average 27.5 minutes; 26% take under 15 minutes and 7.6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Red Deer County work?
25% work in Red Deer County itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Red Deer (1,980), then Innisfail (675).
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).