Average and Median Income in Calgary

Calgary households had a median after-tax income of $87,000 in 2020, the second-highest of the 23 metro areas in our comparison of income by city. That figure was 5.4% lower than the 2015 level, so this page covers both where Calgary stands and how it changed between the 2016 and 2021 censuses. It is part of our average income in Canada series; the Alberta income page has province-wide numbers and the Edmonton income page covers Alberta’s other large metro area.

The household numbers come from Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census income table (98-10-0061-01) for the Calgary CMA, which reports income for the 2020 calendar year and restates 2015 in 2020 dollars. No newer household figure exists at the metro level. Income for individual earners, rather than whole households, is on our Calgary income percentile page.

Calgary household income in the 2016 and 2021 censuses

Measured in 2020 dollars, Calgary’s 2015 average household income was the highest of the same 23 metro areas, ahead of Edmonton ($131,600) and Toronto ($118,500). By 2020 the median after-tax figure was 5.4% below its 2015 value, while Canada’s median moved +9.8% to $73,000.

Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey gives a later reading, though it counts economic families and people living alone rather than households, so its numbers don’t line up exactly with the census. For 2024 it put Calgary’s median after-tax income at $88,900, the highest of the eight metro areas the survey publishes (Ottawa-Gatineau: $85,500), against $85,300 for Alberta.

Calgary home prices and rent set against income

The Calgary Real Estate Board’s average sale price for the City of Calgary was $646,198 in September 2026, 7.4 times the 2020 median after-tax household income. CREB’s MLS HPI benchmark, which tracks a typical home rather than the month’s mix of sales, was $566,700, or 6.5 times that income. Because the income year is 2020 and the prices are from September 2026, both multiples overstate the gap to whatever extent incomes have grown since. Prices by home type are on the Calgary housing market page, and the same multiple for other cities, on before-tax income, is in the housing section of our income by city comparison.

For renters, CMHC’s October 2025 survey found an average of $1,585 a month for a purpose-built one-bedroom and a vacancy rate of 5.0%, against 4.8% a year earlier. Other unit sizes are on the Calgary rental market page.

Calgary’s job mix

Labour Force Survey estimates for the Calgary CMA in 2025 show where its workers are concentrated:

• Professional, scientific and technical services employed 14.3% of Calgary workers, against 10.9% across all Canadian CMAs combined. People in professional engineering occupations made up 2.7% of all employment (1.6% across CMAs).
• Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying and oil and gas accounted for 4.7% of Calgary jobs (0.8% across CMAs). Across Alberta, that industry group paid an average of $58.84 an hour in 2025, against $37.35 for all industries.
• Transportation and warehousing employed 6.7% of Calgary workers, against 5.3% across CMAs.

Calgary jobs and income, 2014 to 2025

• 2014: the Calgary CMA’s unemployment rate was 5.1%, and 58,900 people worked in forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying and oil and gas.
• 2016: employment in that industry group was 50,300, and the unemployment rate was 9.4%.
• 2019: unemployment stood at 7.1%. Median individual income (all residents 16 and older, the survey’s age floor before 2022, in 2024 dollars) was $51,100, against $56,600 in 2014.
• 2020: the unemployment rate averaged 11.9% for the year, and employment went from 836,700 in 2019 to 777,500.
• 2021 to 2025: employment went from 812,600 to 991,900, with professional, scientific and technical services going from 96,500 to 142,300 jobs. The CMA’s population grew by 295,770 between July 2021 and July 2025.

Provincial tax on a Calgary paycheque

Alberta has no provincial sales tax, so Calgary shoppers pay only the federal 5% GST, against a combined 12% in BC. On income, Alberta’s 2026 basic personal amount of $22,769 is the highest of any province, and its 2026 bottom rate is 8% on the first $61,200 (Ontario starts at 5.05% and BC at 5.6%). Alberta also has no health premium of the kind Ontario charges.

These amounts leave out federal tax and payroll deductions; the income tax calculator adds them for any salary.

Related tools and resources

• Calgary housing market: average, median and benchmark prices by home type
• Calgary rental market: CMHC rents by unit size and vacancy
• Cost of living in Calgary: monthly costs beyond housing
• Alberta mortgage rates: current rates from Alberta lenders
• Income percentile calculator: where an income ranks nationally and by province
• Income needed to afford a home: the salary a given price requires