At the national level, what is Canada’s income distribution?

In 2020, there were 14,978,950 households in Canada. The median income of households was $84,000.

(Correction: an earlier version of this post incorrectly named 2021 as this data’s reference year).

household income number of households percentage rolling sum rolling percentage
Under $5,000 165,180 1.1% 165,180 1.1%
$5,000 to $9,999 91,750 0.6% 256,930 1.7%
$10,000 to $14,999 178,475 1.2% 435,405 2.9%
$15,000 to $19,999 274,145 1.8% 709,550 4.7%
$20,000 to $24,999 637,695 4.3% 1,347,245 9.0%
$25,000 to $29,999 505,875 3.4% 1,853,120 12.4%
$30,000 to $34,999 488,735 3.3% 2,341,855 15.6%
$35,000 to $39,999 560,950 3.7% 2,902,805 19.4%
$40,000 to $44,999 572,650 3.8% 3,475,455 23.2%
$45,000 to $49,999 559,150 3.7% 4,034,605 26.9%
$50,000 to $59,999 1,093,190 7.3% 5,127,795 34.2%
$60,000 to $69,999 1,044,715 7.0% 6,172,510 41.2%
$70,000 to $79,999 986,460 6.6% 7,158,970 47.8%
$80,000 to $89,999 921,205 6.1% 8,080,175 53.9%
$90,000 to $99,999 844,835 5.6% 8,925,010 59.6%
$100,000 to $124,999 1,753,480 11.7% 10,678,490 71.3%
$125,000 to $149,999 1,283,445 8.6% 11,961,935 79.9%
$150,000 to $199,999 1,545,940 10.3% 13,507,875 90.2%
$200,000 and over 1,471,075 9.8% 14,978,950 100.0%

This table reflects “total income,” the sum of all household members’ income before income taxes and deductions. Total income includes wages, salaries, tips, self-employment income, dividends, child support, scholarships, social assistance, Canada Pension Plan benefits, and Old Age Security benefits.

Total income does not include one-off income like lottery or gambling wins or, notably, capital gains. (Statistics Canada has more here).

How do we know?

The data comes from the 2021 Canadian census, Table 98-10-0055-01.

  • Default download settings
  • Download options > CSV Download selected data (for database loading)
  • download link here

#! /bin/bash

country_total_income_file="ctry_tot_income.csv"

if [ ! -f "$country_total_income_file" ]; then
curl -o 9810005501_databaseLoadingData.csv -kL "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/dtl!downloadDbLoadingData-nonTraduit.action?pid=9810005501&latestN=0&startDate=20210101&endDate=20210101&csvLocale=en&selectedMembers=%5B%5B1%5D%2C%5B1%5D%2C%5B1%5D%2C%5B1%5D%2C%5B1%5D%2C%5B%5D%2C%5B%5D%5D&checkedLevels=5D1%2C5D2%2C5D3%2C6D1"
mv 9810005501_databaseLoadingData.csv $country_total_income_file
fi

# Note that all records have reference date 2021, GEO=Canada, DGUID for Canada identical across all records.
xsv select 8,9,16 $country_total_income_file | xsv search --select 2 2020 | xsv select 1,3 | header -r income_bin,number_of_households | csvlook

income_bin number_of_households
Total - Total income of households 14,978,940
Under $5,000 165,180
$5,000 to $9,999 91,750
$10,000 to $14,999 178,475
$15,000 to $19,999 274,145
$20,000 to $24,999 637,695
$25,000 to $29,999 505,875
$30,000 to $34,999 488,735
$35,000 to $39,999 560,950
$40,000 to $44,999 572,650
$45,000 to $49,999 559,150
$50,000 to $59,999 1,093,190
$60,000 to $69,999 1,044,715
$70,000 to $79,999 986,460
$80,000 to $89,999 921,205
$90,000 to $99,999 844,835
$100,000 and over 6,053,945
$100,000 to $124,999 1,753,480
$125,000 to $149,999 1,283,445
$150,000 to $199,999 1,545,940
$200,000 and over 1,471,075
Median total income of household ($) 84,000

xsv select 8,9,16 $country_total_income_file | xsv search --select 2 2020 | xsv select 1,3 | header -r income_bin,number_of_households > result.csv