Photo: R. Sieben · CC BY 3.0Vulcan has 2.1 jobs for every resident in work
At the 2021 census, 69% of Vulcan’s 15-to-64s were in work, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. From Vulcan, the drive or ride to work averages 18.6 minutes, with 8.1% going an hour or longer. Before tax, the typical household in Vulcan brought in $68,400 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
The work figures that set Vulcan apart
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $68,400 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 18.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 8.1% 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 Vulcan: C+
Better than 38% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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 Vulcan’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 70% of Canadian towns.
Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 5 has a higher median. That puts Vulcan 26% below the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. 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).
A working day adds 94% to the people at work in Vulcan
For every resident who leaves Vulcan for work, about 6 people come in. Of those who commute, 79% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Vulcan
Timed exactly, the average is 15.9 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 71% 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.
518 people come into Vulcan to work, most from Vulcan County and Champion
- Vulcan County245
- Champion40
- Willow Creek No. 2635
- Claresholm30
- Carmangay20
- Calgary20
- Lethbridge15
- Nanton15
- Foothills County15
- High River15
- Calgary15
- Lethbridge County10
- Nanton10
- Champion10
- High River10
Of everyone working in Vulcan, 62% come in from elsewhere; 245 make the 6 km trip from Vulcan County. Going the other way, Calgary is the biggest single destination (15).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Vulcan
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 5, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 39% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 57% in work in October 2026. 44% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
14% of commuters from Vulcan go without a car
Home was the workplace for 12%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 2%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The middle of Alberta’s towns has 2.5% walking; here, 10% do. Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 85% against 88%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
23% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 5 than in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 5, Vulcan included.
At its peak, in February 2021, 2,480 people were on EI, 2.7 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.4 are on EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 5%.
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).
Everyday places on foot in Vulcan: A+
Better than 97% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Next to Vulcan: how nearby places compare
The nearest places to Vulcan with figures are 6–48 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vulcan | 69% | 11% | $68K | 18.6 min | C+ | A+ |
| Vulcan County 6.2 km | 64% | 4.6% | $87K | 26.7 min | C | C+ |
| Nanton 36.8 km | 87% | 9.1% | $77K | 26.9 min | B+ | A |
| High River 47.1 km | 76% | 9.9% | $82K | 23.3 min | B | B+ |
| Claresholm 47.8 km | 73% | 10% | $66K | 15.9 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 Vulcan, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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 Vulcan
How many jobs are there in Vulcan?
The 2021 census found about 830 people with their usual workplace in Vulcan, or 2.1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 114 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Vulcan?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 11% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Camrose-Drumheller economic region at 8.8% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Vulcan?
Before tax, half the households in Vulcan had more than $68,400 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Vulcan get to work?
85% of commuters drive, 2% take public transit, 10% walk and 2% cycle; 12% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Vulcan?
The average commute is 18.6 minutes; 71% of trips take under 15 minutes and 8.1% an hour or more.
Where do people in Vulcan work?
79% work in Vulcan itself; of those who leave, the most go to Calgary (15), then Lethbridge County (10).
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).