Photo: dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada · CC BY 2.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Taber trails that of 75% of Canadian towns
1,125 people have their usual place of work in Taber, against 1,415 residents who travel to a job. The median household in Taber had $87,900 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. In May 2021, unemployment in Taber reached 5.4%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Taber and work: the main findings
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 5.4% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 6.3% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22.9 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.5% last an hour or longer. 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Taber: B−
Better than 51% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #264 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 Taber have a job: 69% of 15-to-64s
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 2, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 68% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 59% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 22.9 minutes from Taber
An hour or more: 6.5% of commuters, close to the middle of Alberta’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.9 minutes. In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 44% 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
A commuter town: Taber sends out more workers than it takes in
28% 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.
72% of Taber’s residents in work leave it to work; Taber (Alberta part) takes the most
Taber (Alberta part) sends the largest group the other way, 380 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Taber work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
What households in Taber earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 71% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Taber’s median is 5% below. 6 of the 9 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 2 have a higher median. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Taber gets to work without a car for 3.7% of commuters
Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters. 29% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
EI claims in Census Division No. 2 run 27% above their 2019 level
Taber doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from Census Division No. 2.
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.3 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 8,020, the most in the series and 2.7 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).
Taber grades C− for walkability
Better than 18% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #454 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Taber ranks: 347th of 693 Canadian towns of 5,600 to 10,800
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 345 | University Saskatchewan | 5,888 | 73% | 12% | $71K | B− |
| 346 | MacEwan Alberta | 6,102 | 75% | 10% | $94K | B− |
| 347 | Taber Alberta | 8,009 | 69% | 5.4% | $88K | B− |
| 348 | Sandstone Valley Alberta | 5,816 | 68% | 14% | $105K | B− |
| 349 | La Malbaie Quebec | 8,293 | 76% | 9.1% | $64K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 693 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Taber, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work in and around Taber
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taber | 69% | 5.4% | $88K | 22.9 min | B− | C− |
| Taber 13.1 km | 74% | 6.5% | $82K | 16 min | A− | B− |
| Vauxhall 18 km | 69% | 3.7% | $73K | 21.1 min | C+ | A |
| Barnwell 19.1 km | 62% | 6.9% | $97K | 24.9 min | C+ | C+ |
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 Taber, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around 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. 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. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Taber
How many jobs are there in Taber?
Some 1,125 people worked in Taber at the 2021 census: 0.8 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 213 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Taber?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region at 6.3%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 5.4%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Taber?
The median household in Taber had $87,900 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Taber get to work?
Driving takes 95% of commuters to work, 0.7% take public transit, 2.3% walk and 0.7% cycle, and on census day 29% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Taber?
About 22.9 minutes on average, with 44% under a quarter-hour and 6.5% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Taber work?
28% work in Taber itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Taber (Alberta part) (505), then Vauxhall (155).
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).