Photo: Wilson Hui from Calgary, Canada · CC BY 2.0Westlock County has 0.2 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
Of everyone in Westlock County working or looking for work in May 2021, 7.6% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Westlock County takes 31.7 minutes on average, an hour or more for 15%. Median household income in Westlock County was $80,900 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What stands out about work in Westlock County
More people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 79% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 62%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 31.7 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 15% 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 Westlock County: C+
Better than 41% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #325 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.
In Westlock County, 79% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 13, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 63% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 67% of residents that age. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 62%: many residents are past working age. 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 Westlock County
Trips under 15 minutes: 26%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 29.2 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
More go out than come in: the working day in Westlock County
1,920 residents of Westlock County had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 365 people had theirs in Westlock County, wherever they lived.
For every person who comes in to work, about 18 residents travel out. Of those who commute, 14% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
86% of Westlock County’s residents in work leave it to work; Westlock takes the most
- Westlock1,020
- Edmonton120
- Barrhead105
- Clyde60
- Fort McMurray60
- Sturgeon County40
- Morinville40
- St. Albert35
- Fort Saskatchewan30
- Athabasca20
Coming the other way, Westlock sends the most (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 Westlock County work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How Westlock County’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 13, 5 have a higher median. That puts Westlock County 12% below the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
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 4.5% of Westlock County’s commuters
Few ride transit: 1.4%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Working at home: 26% here, 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.
In Census Division No. 13, 4% more people receive EI than in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 13, Westlock County included.
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 3,910 people on EI, 2.4 times 2019’s average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI.
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).
On getting around on foot, Westlock County grades C−
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #445 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Westlock County is 441st of 694 Canadian towns of 5,300 to 10,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Glenora Alberta | 6,197 | 78% | 9.1% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 439 | Saint-Félix-de-Valois Quebec | 7,670 | 78% | 4.8% | $67K | C+ |
| 440 | County Court Ontario | 5,726 | 68% | 17% | $109K | C+ |
| 441 | Westlock County Alberta | 7,556 | 79% | 7.6% | $81K | C+ |
| 442 | Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Quebec | 5,393 | 75% | 9.5% | $81K | C+ |
| 443 | Electoral Area E, Nanaimo British Columbia | 7,125 | 70% | 9.7% | $93K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 694 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Westlock County, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Jobs near Westlock County: the places around it
Westlock County has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 10–43 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westlock County | 79% | 7.6% | $81K | 31.7 min | C+ | C− |
| Westlock 9.5 km | 69% | 10% | $63K | 19.2 min | C | A |
| Barrhead 31.6 km | 72% | 11% | $67K | 17.7 min | C+ | A |
| Legal 37.9 km | 68% | 13% | $97K | 34.6 min | C− | B+ |
| Barrhead County No. 11 38.3 km | 81% | 7.7% | $83K | 27.4 min | B | D |
| Alexander 134 43.5 km | 41% | 21% | $81K | 21.8 min | C | D− |
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 Westlock County, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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. 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. 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Westlock County
How many jobs are there in Westlock County?
The 2021 census found about 365 people with their usual workplace in Westlock County, or 0.2 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 154 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Westlock County?
Two figures answer it: 7.6% 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 Westlock County?
The census puts Westlock County at $80,900 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Westlock County get to work?
92% of commuters drive, 1.4% take public transit and 3.1% walk; 26% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Westlock County?
The average commute is 31.7 minutes; 26% of trips take under 15 minutes and 15% an hour or more.
Where do people in Westlock County work?
14% work in Westlock County itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Westlock (1,020), then Edmonton (120).
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).