Rent in Calgary costs less than in Toronto or Vancouver. A one-bedroom in the Calgary area was listed at $1,550 a month on average during the second quarter of 2026, down from $1,650 a year earlier (Statistics Canada), against $2,090 in Toronto and $2,280 in Vancouver. CREB, the Calgary Real Estate Board, reported an average residential sale price of $646,198 for September 2026. Shoppers pay no provincial sales tax in Alberta. Calgary’s unemployment rate, a three-month Labour Force Survey average for June to August 2026, stood at 6.7%.
What follows collects Calgary’s official cost figures and adds them into a budget for one person and one for a family. Alberta’s other big city is on Calgary vs Edmonton and Edmonton; province-wide comparisons are on cost of living by province, and the cost of living hub links every city guide.
Sample monthly budgets
Every figure in these two budgets is published somewhere: Calgary asking rents and Calgary Transit fares, Alberta’s flat child care fee, Alberta utility and spending averages, and Canadian averages where Alberta has no number. The single person rents a one-bedroom with heat included and rides Calgary Transit; the family of four (two adults, two children) rents a three-bedroom, both adults hold monthly passes, and one child has a full-time space at a licensed centre that receives Alberta’s affordability funding . Neither one budgets for a vehicle, clothes, grooming, meals out, insurance premiums or saving.
| Calgary, a month | Single renter, 1-bedroom | Family (2 adults, 2 kids), 3-bedroom | Figure used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | $1,550 | $2,180 | Calgary CMA listings, Statistics Canada, second quarter of 2026 |
| Groceries | $383 | $1,080 | Grocery-store food spending in Canada, 2023: one-person households for the single renter, couples with children for the family |
| Transit | $126.00 | $252.00 | Calgary Transit adult pass (2026 fares), times the number of adults |
| Utilities | $180.74 | $371.58 | Single renter: 750 kWh electricity bill; family: Alberta spending on water, fuel and power, 2023 |
| Internet | $94.67 | $94.67 | Alberta households, 2023 average |
| Cell phone | $69 | $147.08 | Single renter: Canadian living-alone average; family: Alberta households, all lines, 2023 |
| Child care, one child | n/a | $326.25 | Alberta’s full-time flat parent fee (since April 1, 2025) |
| Total | $2,403.41 | $4,451.58 | Column total of the amounts shown |
Spending rows use Statistics Canada’s 2023 Survey of Household Spending as published, without an inflation adjustment, and its averages include households with zero spending on a line. Hydro-Québec’s April 1, 2025 rate comparison (pre-tax) supplies the Calgary power bill. A complete one-person budget is on cost of living alone in Canada; annual household spending in full is on average household expenses.
Rent in Calgary
Calgary’s quarterly asking rents from Statistics Canada, set beside the same quarter a year before where the agency publishes it (average rent has other cities):
| Calgary apartment | Listed rent now | Listed rent a year before |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,320 | n/a |
| 1-bedroom | $1,550 | $1,650 |
| 2-bedroom | $1,890 | $2,020 |
| 3-bedroom or larger | $2,180 | n/a |
Table 46-10-0092-01, second quarter of 2026, Calgary CMA; n/a where no figure is published. Statistics Canada marks the year-earlier one- and two-bedroom figures “use with caution” (quality flag E).
CMHC’s 2025 Rental Market Survey covers people already renting: $1,585 on average for a purpose-built one-bedroom in Calgary, and 5.0% vacancy. Calgary rental market data has CMHC’s full set.
Listings on Rentals.ca (apartments and condos, August 2026) put a one-bedroom at $1,615 in the City of Calgary and $1,547 in nearby Airdrie, and the average two-bedroom at $1,985 and $1,745. Because Rentals.ca uses its own listings, its averages and Statistics Canada’s differ.
Buying a home in Calgary
| Property type, City of Calgary | Average price | Monthly mortgage payment |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment | $318,759 | $1,645 |
| Row and townhouse | $432,178 | $2,231 |
| Semi-detached | $686,328 | $3,542 |
| Detached | $823,483 | $4,250 |
| All residential | $646,198 | $3,335 |
CREB average sale prices, September 2026. For the payment column: 20% down, 25 years to repay, and 6.09% interest compounded semi-annually (the Bank of Canada’s posted 5-year conventional rate on September 30, 2026); condo fees, property tax and insurance are not included. The mortgage calculator handles other cases, average house price compares Calgary with other cities, and Calgary housing market tracks CREB’s monthly figures.
The City of Calgary’s 2026 residential property tax rate is 0.66499% of assessed market value, municipal and provincial education tax combined: a home assessed at $600,000 pays $3,990 a year (Calgary property tax). Costs at closing are covered on the Alberta land transfer tax page.
Getting around
| Option | Cost |
|---|---|
| Calgary Transit adult single fare (2026 fares) | $4.00 |
| Calgary Transit adult monthly pass (2026 fares) | $126.00 |
| Calgary Transit youth monthly pass (2026 fares) | $92.00 |
| Car insurance, Alberta average premium (Statistics Canada, 2025 study) | $152 a month |
| Regular gasoline, Calgary (August 2026) | 162.3 cents a litre |
The car insurance figure is Statistics Canada’s average written premium for Alberta divided by 12, a provincial average (car insurance in Alberta); Alberta’s Automobile Insurance Rate Board has a tool that shows average premiums by postal code, and car insurance in Calgary covers what moves a Calgary premium.
Utilities
| Utility | Monthly cost | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | $180.74 at 750 kWh; $229.04 at 1,000 kWh | Hydro-Québec comparison of rates in effect April 1, 2025, before taxes |
| Natural gas | $111.00 | Alberta household average, 2023 |
| Water, wastewater and stormwater | $119.21 | City of Calgary typical metered household using 19 m³ a month, 2026 |
| Internet | $94.67 | Alberta household average, 2023 |
Alberta households spent an average of $371.58 a month on water, fuel and electricity in 2023, against $266.08 in Ontario and $203.67 in British Columbia. Alberta’s regulated default gas commodity rate was $1.458 per GJ in October 2026 in the Direct Energy/ATCO zone; delivery and fixed charges are billed on top. Province-by-province bills are on the average utility bills page.
Groceries
Nobody publishes a Calgary-only grocery basket, so Alberta’s retail averages from Statistics Canada stand in: in July 2026, $6.68 bought 4 litres of milk, $5.20 a dozen eggs and $17.71 a kilogram of ground beef. For grocery spending by household size, see the average grocery bill.
Child care
In Alberta, children up to kindergarten age in a licensed daycare or family day home that receives affordability funding pay a flat parent fee of $326.25 a month for full-time care ($15 a day) or $230 for part-time care. The flat fee has applied since April 1, 2025 (Government of Alberta).
Income, taxes and rent
CMHC considers housing affordable when it costs less than 30% of before-tax household income, counting the rent (or mortgage payments, property tax and condo fees) plus electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. On the asking rent alone, before utilities, Calgary’s average one-bedroom fits a household income of $62,000 a year; the three-bedroom average needs $87,200. Someone single in Alberta earning $62,000 would clear about $4,083 a month after 2026 income tax, CPP and EI, next to $2,403 for the single renter’s sample budget.
Alberta’s provincial income tax starts at 8%, against 5.05% in Ontario and 5.6% in B.C., so take-home pay depends on income:
| Gross salary, single employee | Alberta | Ontario | British Columbia |
|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $47,691 | $47,340 | $47,755 |
| $80,000 | $60,698 | $60,303 | $61,157 |
| $100,000 | $74,459 | $74,206 | $75,373 |
Take-home pay per year, 2026, after federal and provincial income tax (Ontario’s includes the Ontario Health Premium), CPP and EI. Alberta’s rates and brackets are on the Alberta income tax page. Sales tax in Alberta is the 5% GST only, against 13% HST in Ontario and 12% GST plus PST in B.C.
In 2024, Calgary-area families and unattached individuals had a median income after tax of $88,900 (Canadian Income Survey). For one person’s position in the local distribution, see Calgary income percentiles.
Calgary vs other large cities
| Calgary | Edmonton | Toronto | Vancouver | Montreal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-bed apartment, asking rent | $1,550 | $1,260 | $2,090 | $2,280 | $1,480 |
| Adult transit for a month | $126.00 | $102.00 (fare cap) | $155.10 (fare cap) | $117.20 (1 zone) | $110.00 |
| 750 kWh power bill | $180.74 | $171.95 | $126.80 | $92.40 | $65.63 |
| Median income after tax, families and unattached | $88,900 | $80,700 | $82,500 | $78,900 | $70,100 |
Sources by row: Statistics Canada asking rents (second quarter of 2026); city transit agencies (Calgary Transit 2026 fares, ETS fares as of September 2026, TTC fares as of September 2026, TransLink fares from July 1, 2026, ARTM fares as of September 2026); Hydro-Québec’s pre-tax comparison of April 1, 2025 rates; Canadian Income Survey, 2024. Pages for the other cities: Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal.
Related articles
Sources
The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 5, 2026 and October 4, 2026. How we check facts.
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