Alberta Salary Guide 2026: Tech, Finance, Energy and Healthcare Pay from Job Bank

In Alberta, the median wage is $51.92 an hour for software engineers and designers, $66.35 for petroleum engineers and $47.50 for registered nurses, according to Canada's Job Bank (reference period 2023–2024). Alberta also has no provincial sales tax, and since 1 January 2025 it taxes the first part of your income at 8%. This guide covers 18 occupations across tech, finance, energy and healthcare, how Calgary and Edmonton compare, and how Alberta's 2026 tax rates stack up against Ontario and British Columbia.

How to Read the Wage Tables

All wage figures come from Job Bank, updated 19 November 2025 (Job Bank wage search; full data on the Open Government Portal). They are hourly wages before tax for people working in each occupation, identified by its NOC 2021 code. The low figure is the 10th percentile (10% of workers earn that or less) and the high figure is the 90th percentile (10% earn more). The last column multiplies the median by 2,080 hours, which is 40 hours a week for 52 weeks.

Most figures are based on Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey for 2023–2024. Rows marked * use Statistics Canada's Small Area Estimation model for 2024 instead.

Alberta's Tax Advantage: 2026 Rates Compared

Provincial income tax rates for 2026 (Canada Revenue Agency):

Province	2026 provincial rates on taxable income
Alberta	8% up to $61,200; 10% to $154,259; 12% to $185,111; 13% to $246,813; 14% to $370,220; 15% above
Ontario	5.05% up to $53,891; 9.15% to $107,785; 11.16% to $150,000; 12.16% to $220,000; 13.16% above, plus a surtax once basic Ontario tax passes $5,818
British Columbia	5.6% up to $50,363; 7.7% to $100,728; 10.5% to $115,648; 12.29% to $140,430; 14.7% to $190,405; 16.8% to $265,545; 20.5% above

What this means in practice:

• Alberta's first rate isn't the lowest. Its 8% first-bracket rate is higher than Ontario's 5.05% and BC's 5.6%. The Alberta government says its tax advantage comes from high personal and spousal amounts and generous bracket thresholds (Government of Alberta).
• In the middle brackets, Alberta's rate is lower. On taxable income between $107,785 and $150,000, Alberta charges 10%. Ontario charges 11.16% before its surtax, and BC's rate climbs from 10.5% to 14.7% across that span.
• No provincial sales tax. "Alberta has no sales tax," says the Government of Alberta; only the federal GST applies.

Federal income tax (14% to 33% in 2026) applies on top at the same rates in all three provinces. Quebec runs its own provincial income tax through Revenu Québec, so it isn't compared here. Use the Alberta take-home pay calculator to see what a specific salary leaves you with, and compare it with the Ontario and BC calculators.

Technology Salaries in Alberta (2026)

Occupation (NOC 2021 code)	Low (hourly)	Median (hourly)	High (hourly)	Median × 2,080 hours
Software engineers and designers (21231)	$36.06	$51.92	$100.00	$108,000
Software developers and programmers (21232)	$29.81	$48.08	$76.92	$100,000
Web developers and programmers (21234) *	$25.89	$40.23	$58.39	$83,700
Data scientists (21211)	$28.00	$43.27	$57.69	$90,000
Database analysts and data administrators (21223)	$28.27	$39.82	$60.58	$82,800
Cybersecurity specialists (21220) *	$35.40	$50.51	$87.09	$105,100
Computer and information systems managers (20012)	$44.23	$67.31	$96.15	$140,000

NOC codes don't separate DevOps, cloud or machine learning engineers. Those jobs are mostly counted under software engineers and designers or software developers and programmers.

Finance and Accounting Salaries in Alberta

Occupation (NOC 2021 code)	Low (hourly)	Median (hourly)	High (hourly)	Median × 2,080 hours
Financial auditors and accountants (11100)	$27.70	$43.27	$72.12	$90,000
Financial and investment analysts (11101)	$26.92	$45.27	$86.54	$94,200
Financial managers (10010)	$39.34	$62.49	$93.27	$130,000

Energy and Engineering Salaries in Alberta

Occupation (NOC 2021 code)	Low (hourly)	Median (hourly)	High (hourly)	Median × 2,080 hours
Petroleum engineers (21332)	$46.67	$66.35	$96.15	$138,000
Chemical engineers (21320)	$44.23	$64.90	$118.79	$135,000
Electrical and electronics engineers (21310)	$35.00	$50.00	$76.92	$104,000
Geoscientists and oceanographers (21102)	$28.85	$44.43	$117.95	$92,400

Petroleum and chemical engineers have the highest medians of any occupation in this guide except computer and information systems managers.

Healthcare Salaries in Alberta

Occupation (NOC 2021 code)	Low (hourly)	Median (hourly)	High (hourly)	Median × 2,080 hours
Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (31301)	$30.00	$47.50	$54.49	$98,800
Nurse practitioners (31302) *	$38.88	$53.25	$67.85	$110,800
Pharmacists (31120)	$41.24	$55.00	$62.00	$114,400
Physiotherapists (31202)	$34.62	$46.00	$62.03	$95,700

In the public system, pay for unionized healthcare jobs is set by collective agreements, so the pay grid for your classification matters more than a posted range.

Calgary vs. Edmonton Pay

Job Bank also reports wages for the Calgary and Edmonton regions. Median hourly wages:

Occupation (NOC 2021 code)	Calgary region	Edmonton region
Software engineers and designers (21231)	$51.92	$50.24 *
Software developers and programmers (21232)	$48.08	$40.87
Data scientists (21211)	$46.29 *	$43.27
Cybersecurity specialists (21220)	$50.13 *	$50.48 *
Computer and information systems managers (20012)	$68.27	$67.31
Financial and investment analysts (11101)	$45.70	$44.44 *
Petroleum engineers (21332)	$64.18	$64.64 *
Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (31301)	$48.01	$46.00

Calgary's median is higher for six of these eight occupations. The biggest gap is for software developers and programmers ($48.08 against $40.87). Edmonton is slightly higher for cybersecurity specialists and petroleum engineers.

Finding Jobs That List Pay in Alberta

Unlike British Columbia and Ontario, Alberta doesn't require employers to put pay in job postings, so you won't always see a range. Some employers post one anyway. Two examples from Calgary tech postings, checked on each employer's own job page on 24 September 2026:

• AltaML, Intermediate Software Engineer: $90,000–$110,000 a year
• CruxOCM, Forward Deployed Product Manager: $110,000–$150,000 a year

Postings close, so these links may stop working. Browse tech jobs in Calgary (113 open on 24 September 2026) and tech jobs in Edmonton (32 open). Every listing on LANDTHATROLE comes from the employer's own hiring system, such as Greenhouse, Lever, Workday or Ashby, and when the employer closes a job, it closes here too. When a posting has no range, compare the offer with the Job Bank median for your occupation above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Alberta have a minimum wage in 2026?

Yes. Alberta's general minimum wage is $15 an hour. Students under 18 can be paid $13 an hour for their first 28 hours a week during school weeks, and for all regular hours when school is out (Government of Alberta).

How does Alberta's income tax compare to other provinces?

In 2026, Alberta taxes the first $61,200 of taxable income at 8% and income from there to $154,259 at 10%, with a top rate of 15% above $370,220. Ontario (5.05%) and BC (5.6%) have lower first-bracket rates. On taxable income between $107,785 and $150,000, Alberta's 10% is below Ontario's 11.16% (before surtax) and BC's 10.5% to 14.7%. Alberta also has no provincial sales tax.

Are salaries in Edmonton lower than Calgary?

Mostly, by Job Bank's data. Calgary's median wage is higher for six of the eight occupations we compared, with the biggest gap for software developers and programmers ($48.08 an hour in the Calgary region against $40.87 in the Edmonton region). Edmonton is slightly higher for cybersecurity specialists and petroleum engineers.