Photo: Waynercook · Public domainA smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Red Deer than in 74% of Canadian towns
12% of the labour force in Red Deer was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Red Deer takes 20 minutes on average, an hour or more for 4.4%. Half the households in Red Deer had more than $85,200 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Red Deer at work: what stands out
More jobs than the typical town
35,035 people work in Red Deer and 32,940 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 20 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.4% take an hour or more. 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.
On jobs and income, Red Deer grades B
Better than 60% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #203 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.
Red Deer fills up on a working day: 5% more workers
The job is inside the municipality for 77% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 20 minutes from Red Deer
Timed exactly, the average is 18.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 45% of commuters, 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.
9,572 people come into Red Deer to work, most from Red Deer County and Blackfalds
- Red Deer County1,980
- Blackfalds1,585
- Sylvan Lake1,520
- Lacombe840
- Penhold575
- Lacombe County515
- Innisfail385
- Calgary215
- Edmonton190
- Ponoka County160
- Red Deer County2,975
- Lacombe County750
- Blackfalds625
- Lacombe480
- Innisfail455
- Sylvan Lake380
- Fort McMurray225
- Ponoka175
- Edmonton175
- Calgary125
Of everyone working in Red Deer, 27% come in from elsewhere; 1,980 make the 12 km trip from Red Deer County. Red Deer County is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 2,975 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In Red Deer, 70% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 8, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 67% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 67% in work in October 2026. 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.
What households in Red Deer earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 66% of Canadian towns.
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 8, 7 have a higher median. That puts Red Deer 8% below the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. 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).
6.4% of commuters from Red Deer go without a car
Home was the workplace for 13%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 2.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 92% 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).
In Census Division No. 8, 5% more people receive EI than in 2019
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. Roughly 3.4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of 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).
Everyday places on foot in Red Deer: A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #297 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Red Deer is 13th of 42 Canadian towns of 80,800 to 155,800 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 77% | 9.1% | $124K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Lethbridge Alberta | 113,671 | 74% | 9.4% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Airdrie Alberta | 92,544 | 75% | 11% | $110K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 79% | 8.1% | $68K | B |
| 12 | Nanaimo British Columbia | 111,845 | 75% | 8.4% | $76K | B |
| 13 | Red Deer Alberta | 115,409 | 70% | 12% | $85K | B |
| 14 | Terrebonne Quebec | 126,872 | 80% | 5.9% | $95K | B |
| 15 | Drummondville Quebec | 85,560 | 78% | 5.6% | $61K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Red Deer, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Red Deer and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Deer | 70% | 12% | $85K | 20 min | B | A− |
| Red Deer County 11.8 km | 77% | 8.5% | $94K | 27.5 min | B | C |
| Blackfalds 13.2 km | 72% | 13% | $104K | 25.5 min | B | C |
| Penhold 15.8 km | 74% | 11% | $99K | 24.9 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, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Red Deer
How long is the commute from Red Deer?
On average 20 minutes; 45% take under 15 minutes and 4.4% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Red Deer work?
77% work in Red Deer itself; of those who leave, the most go to Red Deer County (2,975), then Lacombe County (750).
How many jobs are there in Red Deer?
About 35,035 people had their usual place of work in Red Deer at the 2021 census, 1.1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 3,865 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Red Deer?
Two figures answer it: 12% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.3% for the Red Deer metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Red Deer?
The census puts Red Deer at $85,200 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Red Deer get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 2.5% take public transit, 3.2% walk and 0.7% cycle. On census day 13% 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).