Exploring Canadian Income by Geography, Sex, and Age

 

 

The interactive charts on this page let you slice and dice Canadian income data — by geography, sex, and age group — answering questions such as:

Note: Throughout this analysis, “income” refers to pre-tax individual income. All data is sourced from StatsCan, and is based on ~28 million tax returns submitted for the 2018 tax year. At the bottom of the page, you can find the data sources and a downloadable spreadsheet for further perusal.

 

Exploring Geographical Regions — by Age Group & Sex

Geography Output

Tip: try clicking the legend labels on the chart to hide / show data sets. For example — if you hide the data for “Both Sexes” and “Males”, this lets you focus on incomes for Females only.

 

Exploring Age Groups — by Geography & Sex

Age Group Output

 

Head-to-Head Comparison

Group A Group B
Geography
Sex
Age Group
Delta
Average Income
Count

 

A Few Findings & Curiosities

Here are some of my take-aways / insights after poking and prodding the data:

If you come across any surprising facts and figures as you sift through the data, let me know in the comments below!

 

Final Thoughts & Data

For more data and insights about how Canadians are earning and spending their money:

 
All of the data in this post can be downloaded in spreadsheet form here.

Data sources:

Statistics Canada. Table 11-10-0051-01 Tax filers and dependants with income by total income, income taxes paid and after-tax income, sex and age

Statistics Canada. Table 11-10-0008-01 Tax filers and dependants with income by total income, sex and age

 


       

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Comment Section

17 Responses to “Exploring Canadian Income by Geography, Sex, and Age”

  1. Dave says:

    This is amazing, ty!

  2. Andrea says:

    This is fascinating and so easy to use!

    Really curious to see such a low average income in Toronto — $54K average across all age groups / both sexes.

    As a comparison, Ottawa has $60K average income, and lower rents to boot!

    • Thanks Andrea! Great insight about Toronto vs Ottawa.

      We can see from this data that Toronto has higher inequality:

      – Only 50% of people in Toronto make above $35K per year, compared to 60% in Ottawa
      – On the other hand, 1.6% of Torontonians make $250K+, versus only 1.2% in Ottawa

      • alex says:

        Something to consider is also government heavy city vs. Private industry heavy city, and population size.

        This is a really cool tool!

  3. Val McKay says:

    Be great to see average incomes versus housing costs across the county – how are folks affording these crazy house prices on such low averages?

    • Philip Harris says:

      Yes, that would be very interesting. How can young people possibly afford houses without parents or fother family members injecting cash?

      • My two cents —

        I think in many cases, homeownership in TOR / VAN is made possible by having a two-income household, and some (or a lot) of help from the bank of Mom & Dad.

        Also, as a data point, 11% of people in Toronto are earning $100K+ per year. Homeownership in major urban centres is out of reach for those with an average income, but it is still possible for many.

    • Hi Val,

      I had the same thought recently! Something is in the works — have found some data on average household income / average rent prices in various cities in Canada.

      I’m in the process of wrangling & visualizing the data.

      Stay tuned 🙂

  4. Enrique Fernandez says:

    Are the figures pre-tax or after tax?

    • Hi Enrique, these figures are pre-tax.

      I’ve clarified at the top of the page —

      Note: The “income” definition used for this analysis is pre-tax individual income. All data is sourced from StatsCan, and is based on ~28 million tax returns submitted for the 2018 tax year.

  5. Abraham Simeon says:

    I’m interested in working in Canada.

  6. Marc Beckwitt says:

    Apologies for basic question, but are the figures quoted in CAN or USD?

  7. Uthman Khan says:

    Would be very interesting to see median Income instead of average income.

  8. […] seems to be a gender pay divide in Canada’s income distribution. Over 20 percent of men are making $100,000 or more in Ottawa, Edmonton, […]

  9. Adam says:

    This should also include or mention the distinction between fulltime and part time. Full time average income in Toronto is actually $80k which is a lot higher than the $50k overall average.

  10. […] Exploring Canadian incomes by province, age group, and sex […]

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