What is the median income by age in Canada?

In Statistics Canada's Canadian Income Survey 2024, the median total income of people with income was $15,700 at ages 15–24, $49,600 at 25–34, $63,800 at 35–44, $65,800 at 45–54, $53,300 at 55–64 and $39,200 at 65 and over (2024 dollars, before tax, individuals rather than households).

Does Statistics Canada publish income percentiles by age?

Table 11-10-0239-01 publishes the average and the median for each age group, not percentile cut-offs such as the 75th or 90th. Because of that, this page does not list percentile figures by age. The median is the 50th percentile: half of people with income in that age group earn less and half earn more.

What is a good salary at 30 in Canada?

The survey's 25–34 age group had a median employment income of $49,400 in 2024 among people with employment income, and an average of $56,900. An income above the median puts you above half of that group's earners, but the published table does not say by how much, and wages differ a lot by province and occupation.

At what age do Canadian workers earn the most?

Median employment income was highest in the 45–54 age group at $67,500 in 2024, ahead of $62,800 for 35–44 and $52,700 for 55–64. Median total income, which also counts investment income, retirement income and government transfers, was also highest at 45–54, at $65,800.

Canadian Income by Age (2026) — How Does Your Salary Compare?

Knowing the national median income is useful. Knowing how your income compares with people your own age says more about where you stand.

Income in Canada rises through the 20s, 30s and 40s, is highest around ages 45–54, and then falls as more people reduce their hours or retire. The figures below come from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey, reference year 2024 (released April 29, 2026), table 11-10-0239-01. They are individual, pre-tax amounts in 2024 dollars for Canada as a whole, both genders combined.

What the data does and doesn’t include: the table publishes the average and the median for each age group, among people who have that kind of income. It does not publish percentile cut-offs by age (25th, 75th, 90th), so none are shown here. The median is the 50th percentile: half of people in the age group have less and half have more.

Use our Canadian income percentile calculator to find your exact national percentile.

Canadian Income by Age Group, 2024

Age group	Median total income	Median employment income	Average employment income	Share with employment income
15–24	$15,700	$13,400	$19,400	69.4%
25–34	$49,600	$49,400	$56,900	87.4%
35–44	$63,800	$62,800	$76,200	86.6%
45–54	$65,800	$67,500	$84,700	85.4%
55–64	$53,300	$52,700	$68,300	73.2%
65 and over	$39,200	$13,200	$34,000	27.7%
All ages 15+	$46,300	$46,100	$60,100	69.0%

Source: Statistics Canada, table 11-10-0239-01, Canada, Total - Gender, 2024, in 2024 constant dollars. Medians and averages exclude people with zero of that income type. “Share with employment income” is the number of people with employment income divided by all people in the age group (a wealthvieu calculation from the same table).

Ages 15–24

Many people in this group are students or work part-time or seasonally, which is why the median employment income ($13,400) is far below every older group and only 69.4% have any employment income.

Ages 25–34

The median total income was $49,600 and the median employment income $49,400. Nearly everyone in this group (87.4%) had some employment income. Incomes differ widely by occupation and province, and the table’s averages sit above the medians because a smaller number of high earners pull the average up.

Ages 35–44

Median total income rose to $63,800 and median employment income to $62,800. RRSP room starts to matter more at these incomes: the deduction limit is 18% of the previous year’s earned income, up to a dollar cap of $33,810 for 2026 (the cap was $32,490 for 2025).

Ages 45–54

This is the highest-income group in the table: median employment income of $67,500 and an average of $84,700. For RRSP savers, contributions in higher-earning years are deducted against higher marginal tax rates, and the savings have more years to grow before the RRSP must mature by the end of the year you turn 71 (then withdrawn, moved to a RRIF or used to buy an annuity).

Ages 55–64

Median total income fell to $53,300 and median employment income to $52,700, and the share with any employment income dropped to 73.2% as people cut back or retire. CPP retirement benefits can start as early as age 60 or as late as 70; payments are reduced by 0.6% for each month before 65 and increased by 0.7% for each month after 65. The table lists CPP and QPP benefits as an income source separate from employment income.

Ages 65 and over

Only 27.7% of people 65 and over had employment income, and the median among them was $13,200 (Statistics Canada rates the quality of the 65-and-over employment figures “B”, very good rather than excellent). Total income is a better measure for this group: the median was $39,200 and the average $55,200. Retirement income comes from sources such as CPP (average new pension at 65 about $858/month; maximum $1,507.65/month at age 65 in 2026) and Old Age Security (maximum $762.50/month for ages 65–74 for October–December 2026), plus RRIF or other savings.

How Median Income Changes With Age

Age group	Median total income	Change vs ages 25–34
25–34	$49,600	Baseline
35–44	$63,800	+28.6%
45–54	$65,800	+32.7%
55–64	$53,300	+7.5%
65 and over	$39,200	-21.0%

Percent changes are wealthvieu calculations from the table’s 2024 medians (see the table above). They compare different groups of people in the same year, not the same people over a career.

Provinces and Cities

The same table breaks income down by province and by selected cities for each age group, so you can check your own area at statcan.gc.ca. The national medians above will not match every province; this page doesn’t give provincial adjustments because Statistics Canada’s table, not a rule of thumb, is the source for them. For province-level articles, see our Canadian income hub.

Comparing Your Income With the Median

Compare your own pre-tax income with the median for your age group, using the same income type (total or employment):

Below the median: you earn less than half of people your age with that type of income.
At the median: you are in the middle of your age group.
Above the median: you earn more than half of people your age with that type of income. The table does not say how far above the median counts as the top quarter or top 10%.

For example, someone aged 29 with employment income of $60,000 is above the 25–34 median of $49,400 and also above the average of $56,900. Someone aged 48 with employment income of $58,000 is below the 45–54 median of $67,500.

Sources

Statistics Canada. “Table 11-10-0239-01 Income of individuals by age group, gender and income source, Canada, provinces and selected census metropolitan areas.” Release date April 29, 2026, reference year 2024. statcan.gc.ca
Statistics Canada. “The Daily — Canadian Income Survey, 2024,” April 29, 2026. statcan.gc.ca
Canada Revenue Agency. RRSP deduction limit, RRSP maturity (T4040), and Service Canada CPP and OAS pages for the pension figures. canada.ca

Written by WealthVieu

WealthVieu researches and writes data-driven personal finance guides using primary sources including the IRS, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve, and Census Bureau.

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