Photo: Tara Zieminek · Public domainSpruce Grove’s household incomes are higher than in 91% of Canadian towns
Spruce Grove counted 75% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. The census counted 9,690 people working in Spruce Grove and 11,725 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Unemployment in Spruce Grove stood at 10% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Where Spruce Grove stands out on work
Work near the middle
With 75% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 63% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $106,700 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Spruce Grove grades B+ for jobs and income
Better than 68% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #128 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.
Before tax, the median household in Spruce Grove had $106,700
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 11, 78 have a higher median. Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, Spruce Grove sits 16% above. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
More workers leave Spruce Grove each day than arrive
The job is inside the municipality for 37% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
63% of Spruce Grove’s residents in work leave it to work; Edmonton takes the most
- Edmonton1,980
- Parkland County1,400
- Stony Plain945
- St. Albert245
- Lac Ste. Anne County215
- Sturgeon County140
- Strathcona County85
- Leduc60
- Devon50
- Spring Lake40
Coming the other way, Edmonton sends the most (1,980).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Spruce Grove were working in 2021
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 155 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 64% of the wider area’s adults in work. 70% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 4.1% of Spruce Grove’s commuters
The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1.1% of commuters, against 3.5% 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).
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Spruce Grove average 25.9 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 23.5 minutes. Only 32% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. An hour or more: 4.2% of commuters, under the 7% 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. 11 run 30% above their 2019 level
The highest month was January 2021: 97,990 people, 3.1 times the 2019 level. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.2 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (Census Division No. 11). 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 Spruce Grove: B+
Better than 67% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #349 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Spruce Grove ranks: 25th of 119 Canadian towns of 31,200 to 60,200
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Brant Ontario | 45,565 | 78% | 8.8% | $107K | B+ |
| 24 | Duvernay Quebec | 37,460 | 80% | 6.3% | $111K | B+ |
| 25 | Spruce Grove Alberta | 44,575 | 75% | 10% | $107K | B+ |
| 26 | Saint-Georges Quebec | 33,881 | 80% | 5.6% | $64K | B+ |
| 27 | Leduc Alberta | 39,966 | 74% | 12% | $100K | B+ |
| 28 | Okotoks Alberta | 33,482 | 75% | 9.2% | $118K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 34 | Cochrane Alberta | 39,397 | 77% | 9.5% | $113K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Chestermere Alberta | 31,671 | 73% | 11% | $135K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 119 | Est (Montréal-Nord) Quebec | 31,383 | 64% | 13% | $55K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Spruce Grove, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work in and around Spruce Grove
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spruce Grove | 75% | 10% | $107K | 25.9 min | B+ | B+ |
| Stony Plain 6.7 km | 72% | 11% | $91K | 28.4 min | C+ | B+ |
| Parkland County 12.6 km | 75% | 9.8% | $116K | 32.8 min | B− | C− |
| Enoch Cree Nation 13.9 km | 45% | 18% | $69K | 19 min | C− | C− |
| Secord 13.9 km | 78% | 8% | $126K | 26.4 min | A− | A− |
| Rosenthal 14 km | 77% | 7.6% | $122K | 26.5 min | A− | C |
| Suder Greens 15.1 km | 74% | 13% | $109K | 23.3 min | A− | 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 Spruce Grove, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Spruce Grove
How do people in Spruce Grove get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 1.1% take public transit, 2.8% walk and 0.2% cycle; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Spruce Grove?
25.9 minutes is the average trip, with 32% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 4.2% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Spruce Grove work?
Only 37% work in Spruce Grove itself; the rest go first to Edmonton (4,205) and Stony Plain (970).
How many jobs are there in Spruce Grove?
The 2021 census counted about 9,690 people working in Spruce Grove: 0.8 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 1,184 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Spruce Grove?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 10% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Edmonton metro area at 7.1% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Spruce Grove?
The median household in Spruce Grove had $106,700 before tax in 2020, against $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).