Recession? Not our biggest problem

Incomes here are lower than overall for BC – a situation that was more tenable when the cost of living here was more affordable. These stats (and those on the pages that follow) are the lastest detailed income numbers available from Statistics Canada.

Median individual incomes in qathet, by age, 2020

Under 25 years old: $21,010

25-34 years old: $40,950

35-44 years old: $46,600

45-54 years old: $47,890

55-64 years old: $38,870

65-74 years old: $32,790

75+ years old: $31,010

Could you live on $55,060 a year?

Half of qathet lives below this income, and half above. Incomes are a helpful social indicator, but they don’t tell a full story. $55,060 is a whole different lifestyle if you’re a retired couple without major medical issues who owns a house, versus if you’re a family of four with a kid in daycare and two student loans to pay off – plus $2,200 a month in rent.

Median household income

qathet: $55,060

BC: $66,450

Median individual income

qathet: $36,230

BC: $40,660

A ways to go

In late 2022, Lift Community Services partnered with the Living Wage for Families campaign to calculateqathet’s “Living Wage,” a standard amount that will cover the costs of a two-parent household, with both parents working full-time. The living wage here is $23.33 an hour – or $97,052 for the family. Most of us don’t approach that amount – the median household income here is just $55,060.

BC's Minimum Wage $15.65/hour:

$32,552

qathet's "Living Wage" $23.33/hour:

$48,526

qathet's Actual Median Income:

$36,230

Meet the top 25 percenters

qathet’s median incomes mask how unequal we actually are. The top-earning quarter of both households and individuals live on double what the bottom half does.

Households:

01 - $28,227

02 - $45,555

03 - $66,782

04 - $103,629

Individuals:

01 - $20,190

02 - $30,216

03 - $43,216

04 - $62,560