Photo: Joli Rumi · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 1.8 jobs in Stettler for every resident in work
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 9.2% of Stettler’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. The median household in Stettler had $75,800 before tax in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. 76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Stettler had a job at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
What Stettler’s work numbers say
A local job centre
3,255 people work in Stettler and 1,780 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 14.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.8% 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.
Jobs & income in Stettler: graded A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #81 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
The working day in Stettler: in and out
Stettler takes in some 8 workers for every resident it sends out. Of those who commute, 88% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 14.8 minutes from Stettler
An hour or more: 3.8% of commuters, under the 7% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 12.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). 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.
1,685 people come into Stettler to work, most from Stettler County No. 6 and Red Deer
- Stettler County No. 61,085
- Red Deer55
- Big Valley50
- White Sands45
- Red Deer County40
- Lacombe County40
- Paintearth County No. 1835
- Calgary30
- Castor25
- Alix25
- Stettler County No. 625
- Red Deer25
- Lacombe County20
- Halkirk15
- Hanna10
- Calgary10
- Castor10
- Big Valley10
- Red Deer County10
Of everyone working in Stettler, 52% come in from elsewhere; 1,085 make the 5 km trip from Stettler County No. 6. The main destination the other way is Stettler County No. 6, with 25.
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 Stettler were working in 2021
None of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 7 has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 57% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 57% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 63%. 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 Stettler earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 53% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Stettler is 18% below it. Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 7 has a higher median. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 8.8% of Stettler’s commuters
Few ride transit: 0.4%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 8% against 2.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 90% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 9.6%, under the 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).
EI claims in Census Division No. 7 are back near their 2019 level
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 7, Stettler included.
That works out to around 2.7 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 6%. In January 2021 it reached 2,060, the most in the series and 2.9 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).
Walking in Stettler earns A−
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #237 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 696 Canadian towns of 4,200 to 8,100, Stettler comes 144th on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 142 | Beauceville Quebec | 6,228 | 84% | 4.7% | $66K | A− |
| 143 | Newell County Alberta | 7,846 | 73% | 7% | $92K | A− |
| 144 | Stettler Alberta | 6,035 | 76% | 9.2% | $76K | A− |
| 145 | Bienville Quebec | 7,888 | 83% | 6.3% | $103K | A− |
| 146 | Niverville Manitoba | 7,277 | 82% | 6.1% | $102K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 696 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Stettler, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Jobs near Stettler: the places around it
Distances here run 5–71 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Stettler.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stettler | 76% | 9.2% | $76K | 14.8 min | A− | A− |
| Stettler County No. 6 4.5 km | 80% | 7.1% | $85K | 24.3 min | A− | C− |
| Starland County 63.4 km | 63% | 7.8% | $79K | 30.2 min | D | C |
| Trochu 65.2 km | 85% | 11% | $73K | 18 min | A | A |
| Camrose County 69.2 km | 81% | 7.4% | $90K | 30.3 min | B | D |
| Ponoka 70.6 km | 75% | 9.5% | $77K | 20 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 Stettler, 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. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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 Stettler
What is the average household income in Stettler?
Before tax, half the households in Stettler had more than $75,800 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Stettler get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 0.4% take public transit, 8% walk and 0.4% cycle; 9.6% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Stettler?
The average commute is 14.8 minutes; 76% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.8% an hour or more.
Where do people in Stettler work?
88% work in Stettler itself; of those who leave, the most go to Stettler County No. 6 (25), then Red Deer (25).
How many jobs are there in Stettler?
The 2021 census found about 3,255 people with their usual workplace in Stettler, or 1.8 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 404 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Stettler?
The 2021 census found 9.2% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Camrose-Drumheller economic region, is 8.8% (October 2026).
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).