List of cities in Canada by median household income explained

For the analysis of income, Statistics Canada distinguishes between the following statistical units:

• Households: "a person or group of persons who occupy the same dwelling"^[1]
• Economic families: "two or more persons who live in the same dwelling and are related to each other by blood, marriage, common-law union, adoption or a foster relationship (a couple may be of opposite or same sex)"^[2]
• Census families: "a married couple and the children, if any, of either and/or both spouses; a couple living common law and the children, if any, of either and/or both partners; or a lone parent of any marital status with at least one child living in the same dwelling and that child or those children (all members of a particular census family live in the same dwelling; a couple may be of opposite or same sex)"^[3]

Therefore, a person living alone constitutes a household, but not an economic or census family. Two couples sharing a dwelling constitute a single household, but two economic or census families. A couple living with its children and one spouse's parents constitutes a single household or economic family, but two census families.

Income statistics by census metropolitan area (CMA) are published:

• every 5 years for households (data from the Census of Population)
• annually for economic families, for select CMAs (data from the Canadian Income Survey)
• annually for census families (data from the T1 Family File)

The income concept for this article is total income.^[4]

Median Household and Family Income by Census Metropolitan Area

Census Metropolitan Area	Median Income, Households 2020 (CAD)^[5]	Median Income, Census Families 2020 (CAD)^[6]	Median Income, Economic Families and Persons not in an Economic Family 2021 (CAD)^[7]	Median Income, Economic Families 2021 (CAD)^[8]
Wood Buffalo	182000	175450
Oshawa	102000	106460
Calgary	100000	109520	88100	128800
Ottawa-Gatineau	98000	117820	91500	127200
Guelph	97000	109020
Barrie	97000	100700
Toronto	97000	96700	86800	118700
Edmonton	96000	107450	88600	124900
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	92000	101690
Hamilton	91000	103820
Abbotsford-Mission	91000	89280
Regina	90000	106340
Vancouver	90000	98640	80100	115400
Saskatoon	89000	102830
Kamloops	87000	100550
Victoria	85000	106900
St. John's	85000	104630
Red Deer	85000	99860
Kelowna	85000	97390
Brantford	85000	89850
Greater Sudbury	84000	105110
Lethbridge	84000	98360
Kingston	83000	101560
Winnipeg	83000	95660	76600	104700
Windsor	82000	92180
Chilliwack	82000	91370
Halifax	81000	98440
Thunder Bay	80000	99560
London	79500	94070
Fredericton	79000	95750
Peterborough	79000	90770
Belleville	78000	88580
Nanaimo	77500	91480
St. Catharines–Niagara	77000	87510
Québec	76500	104860	73000	108200
Montréal	76000	96130	72800	111400
Moncton	74500	88530
Saint John	74000	89750
Saguenay	70000	94150
Sherbrooke	65000	90460
Drummondville	64000	85560
Trois-Rivières	62400	88020

Notes and References

1. Web site: Household . Statistics Canada . April 16, 2012 . www23.statcan.gc.ca . July 10, 2019.
2. Web site: Economic family . Statistics Canada . November 16, 2015 . www23.statcan.gc.ca . July 10, 2019.
3. Web site: Census family . Statistics Canada . November 16, 2015 . www23.statcan.gc.ca . July 10, 2019.
4. Web site: Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016 - Total income . Statistics Canada . September 13, 2017 . www12.statcan.gc.ca . July 10, 2019.
5. Web site: Household total income group by household characteristics: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts . Statistics Canada . March 29, 2023 . www12.statcan.gc.ca . May 1, 2023.
6. Web site: Selected income characteristics of census families by family type . Statistics Canada . August 9, 2022 . www150.statcan.gc.ca . April 30, 2023.
7. Web site: Market income, government transfers, total income, income tax and after-tax income by economic family type . Statistics Canada . May 2, 2023 . www150.statcan.gc.ca . May 2, 2023.
8. Web site: Market income, government transfers, total income, income tax and after-tax income by economic family type . Statistics Canada . May 2, 2023 . www150.statcan.gc.ca . May 2, 2023.