What's a good salary at 30 in Canada?

Statistics Canada groups ages 25 to 34, so that's the closest benchmark. The median wage for that group was $48,600 in 2023, and a quarter of wage earners made more than $75,430. Both figures include part-time and part-year work, so the typical full-time salary at 30 is higher than the median.

Is salary the same as income?

No. Your salary is what your job pays before tax. Total income adds everything else you receive in a year, such as self-employment earnings, investment income, pension payments and government benefits like the Canada Child Benefit. During your working years the two are close, but after 65 total income is far higher than wages.

How much of the average income goes to income tax?

On 2023 tax data from Statistics Canada , income tax took about 15% of total income for Canadians aged 25 to 34, leaving an average of $47,300. At 45 to 54 it took about 21%, leaving $64,600. CPP or QPP and EI contributions also come off each paycheque, so take-home pay is lower still.

Why don't these numbers match other income figures I've seen?

Different sources measure different things. Statistics Canada's income survey and its tax data define income and age groups a little differently, and some pages quote older years or skip the inflation adjustment. The survey's 2018 to 2023 estimates were also revised on April 29, 2026, so anything published before then uses the old numbers.

Average Income by Age in Canada: What's a Normal Salary?

If you’re 30 and earn $55,000 a year, the national average income of $61,600 can make it look like you’re behind. You aren’t. Half of Canadians aged 25 to 34 had a total income under $49,600 in 2024, according to Statistics Canada, so at $55,000 you’d be ahead of most people your age.

That’s the median, the income of the person in the middle. The average income by age in Canada is higher than the median at every age, and both climb through your 30s and 40s to a peak between 45 and 54. After that, income falls as people cut back their hours and retire.

What is the average income by age in Canada?

In 2024, the average total income was $57,200 for Canadians aged 25 to 34, $77,200 at 35 to 44 and $84,100 at 45 to 54. The median was lower at every age and peaked at $65,800. Both are before tax and come from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey (opens in a new tab), released on April 29, 2026.

Age	Median income	Average income
15 to 24	$15,700	$20,900
25 to 34	$49,600	$57,200
35 to 44	$63,800	$77,200
45 to 54	$65,800	$84,100
55 to 64	$53,300	$70,200
65 and over	$39,200	$55,200
All ages (15 and over)	$46,300	$61,600

Total income before tax in 2024, for people with any income. Total income includes wages, self-employment income, investment income, pensions and government benefits. Source: Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0239-01 (opens in a new tab).

Which number should you compare yourself to?

The median. Half the people in an age group earned more than the median and half earned less, so it’s the closest thing to a typical income. The average adds everyone’s income together and divides by the number of people, which lets a small group of very high earners pull it up. At 45 to 54, the average is $18,300 higher than the median, and most people that age earn less than the average.

Why does income fall after 55?

Fewer people are working. About 85% of Canadians aged 45 to 54 had some employment income in 2024. That share was 73% at 55 to 64 and 28% after 65. By then nearly everyone gets government benefits such as Old Age Security and the Canada or Quebec Pension Plan, and 63% have income from a workplace pension or retirement savings.

What is the average salary by age in Canada?

Full-time employees aged 25 to 54 earned a median of $1,400 a week in 2025, or about $72,800 over a year, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey (opens in a new tab). Their average was $1,569 a week, about $81,600 a year. Full-time workers under 25 earned a median of $862.50 a week, about $44,900 a year, and those 55 and over earned $1,288.30, about $67,000.

Those are usual weekly wages before tax for people working 30 hours or more a week, and the yearly figures are the weekly ones multiplied by 52. The survey splits workers into only three age groups, so for a closer look by age, the tax figures below are more useful.

The range of wages at each age

The tax figures include everyone who earned any wages in the year, including students with summer jobs and people who worked part time or for only part of the year. That’s why they’re lower than the full-time figures. In 2023, half of wage earners aged 35 to 44 made between $36,310 and $98,140.

Age	Bottom 25% earned under	Median	Top 25% earned over
15 to 24	$7,660	$16,200	$31,550
25 to 34	$25,510	$48,600	$75,430
35 to 44	$36,310	$63,770	$98,140
45 to 54	$40,940	$67,800	$103,670
55 to 64	$28,610	$54,020	$88,180
65 to 74	$2,330	$20,960	$51,720

Wages, salaries and commissions reported by tax filers in 2023. Source: Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0072-01 (opens in a new tab).

To place yourself, find your age group. At 28 with $80,000 in wages, you’re in the top quarter of wage earners your age. Your field matters too. Our guide to what each university degree pays has graduates’ earnings by field, two and five years after school.

How many Canadians earn $100,000 a year?

About 15% of Canadians with income had $100,000 or more in 2023, according to Statistics Canada’s tax data. The share rises with age and peaks at 26% between 45 and 54. Between 25 and 34 it was 11.5%, and under 25, less than 1%. At $250,000 or more, you’re among about 1.5% of Canadians with income.

Age	$50,000 or more	$75,000 or more	$100,000 or more	$150,000 or more
Under 25	10.2%	2.8%	0.9%	0.2%
25 to 34	48.2%	24.8%	11.5%	3.0%
35 to 44	60.8%	39.0%	23.1%	7.8%
45 to 54	61.9%	41.2%	26.2%	10.1%
55 to 64	51.1%	30.7%	18.6%	7.6%
65 and over	33.9%	16.5%	8.4%	3.4%
All ages	45.2%	26.1%	14.8%	5.4%

Share of people with income whose total income before tax reached each level in 2023. Source: Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0008-01 (opens in a new tab).

At 40 with an income of $110,000, fewer than one in four people your age earn as much, since 23.1% of 35-to-44-year-olds made $100,000 or more.

What is the average household income by age?

Couples where the older partner was 45 to 54 had a median total income of $152,130 in 2023, the highest of any age group, according to Statistics Canada. Couples aged 25 to 34 had $98,190. For single people, the median peaked much lower, at $54,730 between 35 and 44. That’s partly because many couples have two earners.

Age (of the older partner, for couples)	Couples	Single people
Under 25	$47,070	$17,600
25 to 34	$98,190	$44,760
35 to 44	$131,000	$54,730
45 to 54	$152,130	$51,890
55 to 64	$137,720	$42,800
65 and over	$86,570	$34,400
All ages	$114,560	$37,210

Median total income before tax in 2023. Couples are married or common-law, with or without children. Single people don’t live with a partner, a parent or a child, so the column includes people who live alone or with roommates. Source: Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0012-01 (opens in a new tab).

Do men and women earn the same at each age?

No, and the gap widens with age, then narrows a little after 65. In 2024, women under 25 had a median income of $15,500, 97% of what men their age had. Between 35 and 44, women’s median was 80% of men’s, and between 55 and 64 it was 71%.

Age	Women	Men	Women’s median as a share of men’s
15 to 24	$15,500	$16,000	97%
25 to 34	$46,500	$52,700	88%
35 to 44	$57,500	$71,500	80%
45 to 54	$57,400	$77,800	74%
55 to 64	$44,600	$63,200	71%
65 and over	$34,400	$46,400	74%

Median total income before tax in 2024, using Statistics Canada’s Women+ and Men+ categories. Source: Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0239-01 (opens in a new tab).

Median income by age in each province

Quebec had the highest median income of any province for people aged 25 to 54 in 2024, at $61,600, followed by Alberta at $58,700 and British Columbia at $58,400. Ontario’s was $57,400. Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia all had higher averages than Quebec, which means their high earners pull the average further above the median.

Province	25 to 34	35 to 44	45 to 54	55 to 64	65 and over
Newfoundland and Labrador	$44,800	$60,300	$63,200	$48,400	$33,800
Prince Edward Island	$48,100	$54,600	$57,900	$49,400	$38,100
Nova Scotia	$47,800	$61,000	$63,500	$48,400	$36,100
New Brunswick	$48,100	$59,000	$58,400	$47,900	$32,500
Quebec	$52,700	$66,200	$69,200	$52,700	$36,000
Ontario	$49,200	$63,100	$64,700	$53,500	$41,500
Manitoba	$44,300	$57,700	$58,800	$50,600	$40,400
Saskatchewan	$47,800	$62,300	$65,100	$55,300	$44,600
Alberta	$47,500	$64,000	$67,900	$57,500	$41,800
British Columbia	$49,700	$63,800	$65,900	$55,200	$39,800

Median total income before tax in 2024. Estimates for the smaller provinces are less precise. Source: Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0239-01 (opens in a new tab).

Ottawa-Gatineau and Quebec City lead the big cities

Of the eight cities Statistics Canada reports, Ottawa-Gatineau ($69,900) and Quebec City ($68,700) had the highest median incomes for ages 25 to 54 in 2024, and Winnipeg ($52,900) had the lowest. Montreal’s median was $59,600, Vancouver’s $58,000 and Toronto’s $56,100, even though Toronto’s average, $75,000, was higher than Montreal’s $72,100.

Has income kept up with inflation?

For most ages, yes, but not for young adults. After adjusting for inflation, the median income of Canadians aged 25 to 34 was $49,600 in both 2019 and 2024, the only age group with no gain. People 65 and over gained the most, 11%.

Age	2019	2024	Change
15 to 24	$15,500	$15,700	+1%
25 to 34	$49,600	$49,600	0%
35 to 44	$62,400	$63,800	+2%
45 to 54	$62,700	$65,800	+5%
55 to 64	$49,600	$53,300	+7%
65 and over	$35,400	$39,200	+11%

Median total income before tax, with 2019 converted to 2024 dollars. Source: Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0239-01 (opens in a new tab).

Over almost the same years, the median net worth of families under 35 nearly tripled. Most of that came from rising home values, though, and young homeowners gained the most, as we cover in our guide to net worth by age.

Saving more on the income you have

Your income is what comes in, and your savings are what’s left over. The two don’t rise together as neatly as you’d expect. Households aged 45 to 54 bring in more than any other age group, yet in 2025 they spent more than that, according to the Statistics Canada figures in our savings by age guide.

A raise is mostly out of your hands. How much of each paycheque you set aside is up to you, and that’s the habit Lodavo rewards. Connect your savings or chequing account, and every $25 of your balance earns a free ticket in the weekly draw for cash prizes up to $10,000, with at least $100 won by a user every week. The more you save, the more tickets you get, and your money stays in your own account.

Want every week of saving to count for something? Download Lodavo free on the Apple App Store (opens in a new tab) or Google Play Store (opens in a new tab).

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