Average and Median Income in Victoria, BC

In BC’s capital region, the median household kept $75,500 after tax in 2020, $500 less than the BC-wide median and $4,000 less than Metro Vancouver’s. Public administration alone accounted for 13.5% of Victoria jobs in 2025, against 6.1% across all Canadian CMAs. The rest of our city and province profiles are listed in the average income in Canada hub; see also the British Columbia income page and average and median income in Vancouver.

Household income here is from Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census income table (98-10-0061-01) for the Victoria CMA, for the 2020 income year; Victoria is not among the metro areas in the newer Canadian Income Survey tables.

Victoria household income beside BC and Vancouver

Nationally, the median went from $66,500 to $73,000 (+9.8%). Before tax, Victoria’s 2020 median household income was $85,000 and its average $107,000.

Government and other jobs in Victoria

Public-sector employees made up 31.6% of the 243,400 people working in the Victoria CMA in 2025, according to the Labour Force Survey (21.5% in all CMAs combined). Health care and social assistance employed 17.2% of workers, and accommodation and food services 7.1% (5.6% across CMAs).

Victoria’s unemployment rate was 3.5% in 2019, 7.8% in 2020 and 3.9% in 2024. The metro population went from 414,596 in July 2021 to 445,090 in July 2025.

What Victoria homes and rentals cost against income

The Victoria Real Estate Board publishes no all-types average or benchmark, so the price used here is the sales-weighted average of its September 2026 single-family, condo and townhouse averages: about $1.00 million, leaving out other property types. That is roughly 13.3× the 2020 median after-tax household income. An average is a different measure from the MLS HPI benchmark (the price of a typical home) that boards such as Greater Vancouver REALTORS publish, so this multiple is not directly comparable with benchmark-based ones. With that caveat, Victoria’s multiple was lower than Vancouver’s benchmark-based one; the income by city comparison lines up other metros, and the Victoria housing market page has the board’s figures by home type.

In CMHC’s October 2025 survey, purpose-built one-bedroom units in Victoria averaged $1,622 a month and two-bedrooms $2,127, with a vacancy rate of 3.1% (2.7% a year earlier). The Victoria rental market page has every unit size, and our cost of living in Victoria guide covers other household costs.

Related tools and resources

• Victoria housing market: Victoria Real Estate Board prices by home type
• Victoria rental market: CMHC rents and vacancy
• BC mortgage rates: current rates from BC lenders
• Income tax calculator: BC and federal tax on any salary
• Mortgage affordability calculator: the home price an income can carry