Approximately 73% of its population lives in Sherwood Park, which is an urban service area east of Edmonton, remains an unincorporated hamlet.

Local governance began in 1893 when the North-West Territorial Legislature established an area east of Edmonton as Statute Labour District No. 2.

[6] It then grew in size over the following decade and was renamed Local Improvement District (LID) No.

[23] Strathcona County has over $12.0 billion worth of industrial projects completed, announced, or under construction.

[31] This is aided in part by the concentration of oil refineries on the west side of Sherwood Park.

[33] A founding member of Alberta's Industrial Heartland, Strathcona County is home to Canada's largest hydrocarbon refining cluster.

[35] Regarding Jireh Industries, the National Post stated that the company "does aerospace quality machining and makes robots that inspect on-surface and underwater pipelines for cracks and corrosion.

"[35] As of 2020, the leading industries in Strathcona County are extraction, manufacturing, scientific, construction, trucking and engineering.

A market area population of 1.4 million has resulted in household spending power of $5.6 billion.

Strathcona County has over 15,800 highly-skilled graduates available with 94% of residents holding a diploma, certificate, or degree.

[9] Unlike most Albertan municipal districts, where council appoints a reeve, Strathcona County elects a mayor.

Cooking Lake Airport, which operates as a condo board, accommodates 87 per cent of Strathcona County's public aeronautical transportation needs.

[41] The Warren Thomas Aerodrome, better known as the Josephburg Airport, serves the remaining 13 per cent of Strathcona County's public aeronautical transportation needs.