Photo: Grant Berg · CC BY-SA 3.0Sexsmith has higher household incomes than 94% of Canadian towns
Sexsmith had an unemployment rate of 16% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The 2021 census found 66% of working-age people in Sexsmith employed, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 6.3% of workers in Sexsmith; the average is 25.2 minutes.
The short version on work in Sexsmith
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 66% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 59% of all adults employed. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 16% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 5.6%. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $111,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 785 jobs based in Sexsmith and 695 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Sexsmith: B−
Better than 51% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #267 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.
How many in Sexsmith were working in 2021
None of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 19 has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 63% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 71% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. 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.
Sexsmith households: $111,000 a year at the median
One of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 19 has a higher median. That puts Sexsmith 20% above the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Every working day, Sexsmith’s workforce grows by 11%
29% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
586 people come into Sexsmith to work, most from Grande Prairie County No. 1 and Grande Prairie
- Grande Prairie305
- Grande Prairie County No. 1180
- McLennan10
75% of the people who work in Sexsmith live outside it, 300 of them in Grande Prairie County No. 1, 16 km away. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Grande Prairie (305).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walking, cycling or transit: 3.7% of Sexsmith’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 9.9%, 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: 96% 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).
The length of the trip to work in Sexsmith
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 23.9 minutes. Only 25% 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.
In Census Division No. 19, 5% more people receive EI than in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 19, Sexsmith included.
January 2021 was the busiest month, with 8,300 people on EI, 3.1 times 2019’s average. That works out to around 3.8 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 7%.
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).
The Walkability grade for Sexsmith: B+
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
201st of 424: where Sexsmith ranks among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 199 | Sainte-Mélanie Quebec | 3,417 | 81% | 3.9% | $75K | B− |
| 200 | Saint-Polycarpe Quebec | 2,549 | 83% | 3.5% | $78K | B− |
| 201 | Sexsmith Alberta | 2,561 | 66% | 16% | $111K | B− |
| 202 | Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast British Columbia | 2,691 | 76% | 6.9% | $80K | B− |
| 203 | Merrickville-Wolford Ontario | 3,411 | 81% | 7.5% | $88K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 424 | 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 Sexsmith, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work in and around Sexsmith
Distances here run 16–44 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Sexsmith.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sexsmith | 66% | 16% | $111K | 25.2 min | B− | B+ |
| Grande Prairie County No. 1 15.7 km | 78% | 9.6% | $120K | 28.2 min | B+ | C− |
| Grande Prairie 21.1 km | 73% | 12% | $103K | 19.4 min | A | B |
| Wembley 32.5 km | 75% | 11% | $109K | 28.3 min | B | B− |
| Beaverlodge 43.6 km | 70% | 16% | $91K | 24.4 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 Sexsmith, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Sexsmith
How do people in Sexsmith get to work?
By car: 96% of commuters, 2.6% walk and 1.1% cycle; on census day 9.9% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Sexsmith?
25.2 minutes is the average trip, with 25% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 6.3% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Sexsmith work?
29% work in Sexsmith itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Grande Prairie (305), then Grande Prairie County No. 1 (180).
How many jobs are there in Sexsmith?
The 2021 census counted about 785 people working in Sexsmith: 1.1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 277 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Sexsmith?
At the 2021 census 16% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region, gives 5.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Sexsmith?
At $111,000 before tax in 2020, the median household in Sexsmith 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).