With 0.5 jobs for each resident in work, most of Thorhild County commutes out
Half the households in Thorhild County had more than $73,900 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. In Thorhild County, 83% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. The average trip to work from Thorhild County is 34.2 minutes; 18% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there.
Work in Thorhild County, in a few figures
More people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 83% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 57% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 34.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 18% 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.
Thorhild County grades C+ for jobs and income
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #347 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Work and the working-age population of Thorhild County
All 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 13 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 62% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 57% of residents 15 and over were in work. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 63% in work in October 2026. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
The length of the trip to work in Thorhild County
Timed exactly, the average is 30.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 27%, fewer 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
On a working day, Thorhild County loses more workers than it gains
835 residents of Thorhild County had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 415 people had theirs in Thorhild County, wherever they lived.
Each person commuting in is matched by about 4 residents going out. 32% 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.
68% of Thorhild County’s residents in work leave it to work; Redwater takes the most
- Redwater120
- Edmonton80
- Smoky Lake50
- Sturgeon County40
- Westlock40
- Boyle40
- Waskatenau35
- Athabasca35
- Fort Saskatchewan30
- Andrew15
Inbound, the leader is Sturgeon County (30).
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 Thorhild County work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How Thorhild County’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 13, 7 have a higher median. The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Thorhild County is 20% below it. 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).
4.1% of commuters from Thorhild County go without a car
Home was the workplace for 27%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 94% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
In Census Division No. 13, 4% more people receive EI than in 2019
Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Thorhild County alone, so this card uses the figure for Census Division No. 13.
Roughly 4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 3,910 people, 2.4 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).
The Walkability grade for Thorhild County: C−
Better than 21% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #448 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
408th of 639: where Thorhild County ranks among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 406 | Minchau Alberta | 2,576 | 70% | 14% | $96K | C+ |
| 407 | Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 2,597 | 72% | 8.3% | $82K | C+ |
| 408 | Thorhild County Alberta | 3,147 | 83% | 8% | $74K | C+ |
| 409 | Studholm New Brunswick | 3,668 | 73% | 9% | $73K | C+ |
| 410 | La Loche Saskatchewan | 3,124 | 33% | 25% | $72K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | 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 Thorhild County, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Around Thorhild County: jobs, pay and the commute
No closer places have figures: these lie 23–42 km from Thorhild County.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorhild County | 83% | 8% | $74K | 34.2 min | C+ | C− |
| Redwater 22.6 km | 63% | 16% | $79K | 31.4 min | D | A |
| Legal 38.1 km | 68% | 13% | $97K | 34.6 min | C− | B+ |
| Gibbons 39.5 km | 71% | 12% | $108K | 31.4 min | C+ | B+ |
| Bon Accord 39.9 km | 70% | 13% | $103K | 33.6 min | C | B |
| Bruderheim 41.5 km | 69% | 15% | $97K | 32.7 min | C | 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 Thorhild County, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. 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. 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. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- 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.
- 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 Thorhild County
How long is the commute from Thorhild County?
The average commute is 34.2 minutes; 27% of trips take under 15 minutes and 18% an hour or more.
Where do people in Thorhild County work?
Only 32% work in Thorhild County itself; the rest go first to Redwater (120) and Edmonton (80).
How many jobs are there in Thorhild County?
The 2021 census found about 415 people with their usual workplace in Thorhild County, or 0.5 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 92 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Thorhild County?
Two figures answer it: 8% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.6% for the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Thorhild County?
Before tax, half the households in Thorhild County had more than $73,900 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Thorhild County get to work?
94% of commuters drive, 4.1% walk; 27% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).