Toronto has the lowest level of median employment income amongst the 15 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States

TORONTO—In a ranking of median employment incomes in the 15 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States, Toronto ranked last, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Workers in Toronto, our largest urban centre, are generally earning less employment income than people in the largest American metro areas,” said Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Comparing Employment Income in Toronto to American Metropolitan Areas.

The study compares median employment income—wages, salaries and commissions from paid and self-employment income (net) before taxes and government transfers— in the 15 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States. Toronto is the only Canadian metropolitan area large enough to qualify for this list.

The annual gap in employment income between Toronto and the lowest ranking large US metropolitan area, Miami, was $2,030 in 2019, while the difference between Toronto and the highest-ranking US metro, San Francisco, was $32,765.

This study also measures growth in median employment earnings during the 2010s. On this indicator, Toronto also fared quite poorly, with the city’s annual median employment income growth rate of 0.4 per cent ranked 10th out of the 15 metropolitan areas.

“Employment incomes are generally higher in the biggest US metropolitan areas than they are in Toronto, and the gap grew throughout the 2010s,” said Eisen.

Media Contact:
Ben Eisen, Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Drue MacPherson, Fraser Institute
604-688-0221 ext. 721
drue.macpherson@fraserinstitute.org

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