Photo: Jason Woodhead · CC BY 4.0Taber has higher household incomes than 61% of Canadian towns
6.5% of the labour force in Taber was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Getting to work from Taber takes 16 minutes on average, an hour or more for 2.9%. The 2021 census found 74% of working-age people in Taber employed; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Work in Taber, in a few figures
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.3% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 6.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
3,605 people work in Taber and 2,935 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 16 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.9% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Taber: A−
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #62 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.
How many in Taber were working in 2021
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 2, 8 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 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.
On a working day Taber gains 21% in workers
For every resident who leaves Taber for work, about 2 people come in.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
16 minutes from Taber to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 13.8 minutes. In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 69%, more than the 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.
1,430 people come into Taber to work, most from Taber (Alberta part) and Lethbridge
- Taber (Alberta part)380
- Lethbridge130
- Lethbridge County70
- Vauxhall55
- Coaldale50
- Barnwell30
- Bow Island15
- Warner10
- Newell County10
Of everyone working in Taber, 40% come in from elsewhere; 505 make the 13 km trip from Taber (Alberta part). The main destination the other way is Taber (Alberta part), with 380.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Taber households: $82,100 a year at the median
Taber’s median is 11% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 2 has a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
4.5% of commuters from Taber go without a car
The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 7.5% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In Census Division No. 2, 27% more people receive EI than in 2019
The count topped out in January 2021 at 8,020 people, 2.7 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.3 are on EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 1%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: Census Division No. 2. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
How walkable Taber is: B−
Better than 53% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #390 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 658 Canadian towns of 7,100 to 13,700, Taber comes 116th 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 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 29 | Peace River Alberta | 7,220 | 76% | 7.9% | $99K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 114 | Sechelt British Columbia | 11,558 | 81% | 6.5% | $73K | A− |
| 115 | Charlesbourg Quebec | 9,660 | 80% | 5.3% | $77K | A− |
| 116 | Taber Alberta | 10,175 | 74% | 6.5% | $82K | A− |
| 117 | Timberlea Nova Scotia | 11,014 | 75% | 8.4% | $110K | A− |
| 118 | Blackburn Hamlet Ontario | 7,606 | 76% | 8.7% | $100K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 658 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Taber, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Taber, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taber | 74% | 6.5% | $82K | 16 min | A− | B− |
| Barnwell 9 km | 62% | 6.9% | $97K | 24.9 min | C+ | C+ |
| Taber 13.1 km | 69% | 5.4% | $88K | 22.9 min | B− | 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.
- 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. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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. 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. 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Taber
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 6.5%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Taber?
At $82,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Taber compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Taber get to work?
Driving takes 95% of commuters to work, 3.8% walk and 0.7% cycle, and on census day 7.5% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Taber?
About 16 minutes on average, with 69% under a quarter-hour and 2.9% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Taber work?
Most stay: 74% work in Taber. The rest go first to Taber (Alberta part) (380) and Lethbridge (130).
How many jobs are there in Taber?
Some 3,605 people worked in Taber at the 2021 census: 1.2 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 465 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).