Ranking Canadian cities with "affordable" houses and "jobs"
by Don Sagrott, founder @sospep.com
] Given the current state of the vancouver housing market (aka insanity) and with the Toronto housing market not very far behind, the "Canadian dream" of home ownership has become an 'economic impossibility' for Canadians who rely on the weekly paycheques they earn, to finance their home ownership aspirations.
] Working class Canadians have essentially been 'priced out' of 2/3 of our countries 'big city' markets, and not only in the city proper but in most cases in the surrounding metropolitan areas of Greater Toronto(GTA) and Greater Vancouver(GVA) as well.
] There is already growing anecdata about an exodus of people leaving these markets for greener pastures. There are many who have 'expressed concerns' over what 'the impact' will be on these cities after they have fully shifted to be the domain of the wealthy, with no room for the working class. However, all is not lost, if your open to expanding your real estate / lifestyle, there is, apparently, rumours of 'life' outside of the GTA and the GVA.
] Canada is a huge country with many great cities outside of our 3 major metros, With that in mind, what are the best options available in today's environment for Canadians looking for both an "affordable house" and a "good job"? I have looked at a number of different factors including housing costs and labour market statistics for 30+ Canadian cities across the country.
] So, if you want to own 'a nice house', in 'a nice neighborhood' and send your kids to 'a good school' with your 'average canadian income', Here are some of the best options that you have (according to 'the numbers') of cities that you can currently do that in.
[WHERE]
- ] READ THE FULL ARTICLE
- ]
[WHEN]
- ] 2016-04-26
[EXAMPLE - Results, 2016-03, version 001 ]
[HOW-TO]
- ]
[REFERENCE]
- [i] # # - CREATE-article# 5090 - (this) -
- [] # # - view google spreadsheet with full listing of cities -
Methodology
Ranking Points - lower is better
- Cities were ranked by Unemployment Rate, then House cost, then household income. Ranking points is cumulative total of those 3 factors.
- Version 2 adds 2 additional ranking criteria, these include Employment % and Population per Job Listing.
Unemployment %
Unemployment rate in City as of March 2016 as per Stats Canada
House
The average price of a House in this city as of March 2016 as per Canadian Real Estate Association.
Income
The Median Household income (2013) as per Stats Canada.
*Employment %
The percentage of the adult population(>15) that is employed.
*Job Listings
search job listings aggragator(indeed.ca) for listings in {city}, change default search parameter from within 50KM to withing 25KM,
*Population per Job Listing
divide the number of jobs listed by the total population, lower is better
NOTES
- ] Oshawa Average House price is Durham Region price
- ] Abbotsford Mission House price is Fraser Valley.
- ] Vancouver House price is Greater Vancouver price.
- ] SRC = https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm? guelph, brantford, peterborough (2011)
- ] The employment rate refers to the number of persons employed in the week (Sunday to Saturday) prior to Census Day (May 16, 2006), expressed as a percentage of the total population 15 years of age and over.
- ] * = new in version 2