Average & Median Income in British Columbia by Age

In 2020, the median total income in British Columbia was $40,800 and the average was $54,450, among people aged 15 and over with income (Statistics Canada, 2021 Census). That compares with a national median of $41,200. The median was $47,200 for men and $36,000 for women. After adjusting for inflation, the median was $35,600 in 2015, so it rose 15% over five years.

The average sits above the median because a smaller number of high incomes pull it up — the guide to average income in Canada explains which figure to use.

How British Columbia compares

A British Columbia family aged 55-64 has a median net worth of $1,299,900, the highest figure for any province at any age in the Survey of Financial Security data used here, and British Columbia ranks first on net worth in all five age bands. Its income leads nowhere. British Columbia's median income ranks fourth or fifth of ten in every age band, from $43,600 among those 25-34, a tie with Ontario, to $34,000 among those 65 and older. In the four working-age bands it sits just below the national median; only among those 65 and older does it edge above the national figure of $33,200. Ontario, the province closest to British Columbia on net worth, has a higher median income in every age band except 25-34, where the two are tied. Alberta's median income is higher than British Columbia's at every age, yet its net worth is lower at every age. Net worth is measured per family and counts everything a family owns minus what it owes, so it can diverge sharply from a single year's income. Between 2015 and 2020, British Columbia's inflation-adjusted median income rose 14.6 percent, tied with Quebec for the largest increase of the ten provinces.