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CENTRE FOR THE
STUDY OF LIVING
STANDARDS

Household Incomes in Canada and theUnited States: Who is Better Off?

Simon Lapointe

July 2019

CSLS Research Report 2019-01

Household Incomes in Canada and theUnited States: Who is Better Off?
Abstract
It is commonly noted that Americans are on average richer than Canadians. For example, in 2016,
GDP per capita was US $47,294 in Canada (PPP-adjusted) compared to US $57,798 in the
United States. However, this comparison of average incomes does not necessarily imply that allor even most Canadians are worse off than Americans. This report shows that Canadianhouseholds in the bottom 56 per cent of the income distribution are in fact better off than
American households at the same point of the income distribution. This finding is driven by thelower income inequality in Canada, and illustrates how the usual comparison of incomes
between Canada and the United States using GDP per capita or average household income hides
a critical part of the story.

Résumé
Il est fréquemment observé que les Américains sont en moyenne plus riches que les Canadiens.
En 2016, par exemple, le PIB par habitant était 47 294 $US au Canada (en termes de parité depouvoir d’achat), comparé à 57 798 $US aux États-Unis. Par contre, cette comparaison entre
revenus moyens n’implique pas nécessairement que tous, ou même la plupart des Canadiens setrouvent dans une situation défavorable aux Américains en termes de revenus. Ce rapport montre
que les 56 pour cent des ménages canadiens au bas de la répartition des revenus sont en fait plus
riches que les ménages américains au même niveau de la répartition des revenus. Ce résultat est
expliqué par l’inégalité des revenus plus faible au Canada, et illustre comment la comparaison
habituelle entre les revenus moyens au Canada et aux États-Unis ignore une explication
importante de la différence.

Household Incomes in Canada and theUnited States: Who is Better Off? 1
Introduction
It is commonly noted that Americans are on average richer than Canadians. On a GDP per capita
basis, this observation is certainly true. In 2016, GDP per capita in Canada was CAN $56,169, orUS $47,294 adjusted using Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) from Statistics Canada (Table 1).
In the United States, GDP per capita was about 22 per cent higher, at US $57,798. Thisdifference reflects mainly the labour productivity gap between the two countries.2
However, this comparison of average incomes does not necessarily imply that all or even most
Canadians are worse off than Americans. In fact, the 2009 report of the Commission on the
Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, commonly known as the StiglitzSen-Fitoussi Commission, made a recommendation to “give more prominence to the distributionof income, consumption and wealth” (Stiglitz et al., 2009, Recommendation 4), instead of
focusing only on averages. This report takes this recommendation to heart, and analyzes medianincomes as well as incomes over the whole distribution.
The main take-away from the analysis is that Canadian households in the bottom 56 per cent of
the income distribution are better off than American households at the same point of the income
distribution. This is due to the greater income inequality in the United States. However, thisestimate is sensitive to the PPPs used. Our preferred estimations use PPPs from Statistics Canada,
which are derived in a bilateral method, and uses greater detail on prices than those derived by
the OECD. 3
Wolfson and Murphy (1998) previously conducted a similar analysis. Also using PPPs from
Statistics Canada, they concluded that in 1995, about the bottom third of Canadian households
were better off than their American counterparts. To the best of the author's knowledge, thisanalysis has not been replicated since then. Comparing the results in this report to those of
Wolfson and Murphy, the analysis thus reveals a positive trend for Canada in which anincreasing proportion of households have incomes that compare favourably to incomes in
American households.4

1

Simon Lapointe is an Economist at the Centre for the Study of Living Standards. The author would like to thank
Sebastian Tansil and John Tsang for research assistance, and Andrew Sharpe and Michael C. Wolfson for helpfulcomments and suggestions. Email: simon.lapointe@csls.ca.
2
The difference also reflects differences in employment rates, ratio of the working age population to total
population, and average hours worked.
3
The Appendix shows the estimates using the PPPs from the OECD.
4
Wolfson and Murphy also find that this estimate is highly sensitive to the choice of PPPs. Using PPPs from thePenn World Tables instead, they found that about two thirds of Canadians were better off than their US counterparts.

1

Table 1: GDP Per Capita in the United States and Canada

2016 Current Dollars
2016 GDP PPP (OECD)
2016 GDI PPP (Statistics
Canada)United States
US $57,798

CAN $ / US $US $ / CAN $

0.803

1.245

CanadaCAN $US $56,16945,109

0.842

1.188

47,294

Ratioa0.780
0.818

Notes: a) The ratio refers to the ratio of GDP per capita in Canada in US $ to GDP per capita in the United States in US $.
Sources: GDP per capita from OECD Statistics. PPPs are from OECD Statistics SNA Table 4 and from Statistics Canada Table
36-10-0367-01.

The first section of this report describes the data sources. Section 2 provides a comparison of
average and median household income in Canada. The third section then analyzes whether
Canadian or American households are better off at all points of the income distribution. The lastsection concludes.

Data Sources
This section details the data sources used. For Canada, this report uses data on pre-tax incomesof Canadian households from the public microdata files (sample size of 26,675) of the 2016
Canadian Income Survey (CIS), conducted by Statistics Canada. In this survey, total income
includes employment income, net income from self-employment, as well as income fromgovernment sources (i.e., transfers), pensions, investments, and other regular cash income (e.g.,child support, alimony, scholarships). It excludes capital gains. A household is defined as aperson or group of persons who occupy the same dwelling as their only usual place of residence,
whether they are related or not.
For the United States, this report uses data on 2016 pre-tax household incomes from the public
microdata files (sample size of 69,957) of the 2017 Annual Social and Economic Supplement(ASEC) of the Current Population Survey (CPS), conducted jointly by the US Census Bureau
and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.5 Households are defined similarly; they include all the people
who occupy a housing unit. In this survey as in the CIS, total income includes all pre-tax money
income received in the preceding calendar year (excluding some sources, notably capital gains),
as reported by the respondents to the interviewer.
Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) are used to convert Canadian dollars to US dollars. In a very
simple form, PPPs are price ratios between two countries. They are the exchange rate that
equalizes the purchasing power of different currencies for the same basket of goods and services.
For a Canada-US comparison, PPPs are available from two sources: the OECD and Statistics
Canada. The OECD obtains price quotes for a large number of products in member countries,
and then estimate multilateral PPPs.6 Statistics Canada publishes its own estimates of PPPs
5

The 2017 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey details incomes in 2016.
The OECD calculates PPPs every three years in a benchmarking exercise (2014 being the latest currently
available). In the years following the benchmarking exercise (such as 2016), the OECD obtains annual PPPs by
extrapolating from the latest benchmarking year using the relative changes in the GDP deflators of a given country
and the reference country (the United States). For a year t between two benchmarking exercises, the OECD
62

between Canada and the United States in a bilateral manner, adding additional price quotes toimprove the estimates.
Since the estimates of PPPs provided by Statistics Canada are derived bilaterally, prices in othercountries have no chance at “contaminating” the comparison of prices between Canada and theUnited States. Moreover, Statistics Canada improves the accuracy of the PPPs by using a larger
number of price quotes than the OECD. For these reasons, this report will use the Statistics
Canada PPPs as preferred estimates. However, the large variation in the estimates do introduce
significant differences in the incomes converted to US dollars. As a robustness check, theAppendix shows income calculations using the OECD PPPs.
Table 2 shows the various PPP estimates for 2016. The estimates will use PPPs for consumption,
as this expenditure category is more relevant in comparisons of individual or household incomes.
In 2016, the PPP for actual individual consumption from Statistics Canada was 0.841 Canadiandollars per US dollar.
Table 2: PPP Estimates between Canada and the United States, 2016

US $ per CAN $
1.245
1.288
1.337
1.188
1.189

OECD, GDP
OECD, Actual Individual Consumption
OECD, Private Individual Consumption
Statistics Canada, Gross Domestic Income
Statistics Canada, Actual Individual Consumption

CAN $ per US $
0.803
0.776
0.748
0.842
0.841

Source: Statistics Canada Table 36-10-0367-01, OECD Statistics SNA Table 4(https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=SNA_Table4)

Average and Median Household IncomesThis section looks at the overall picture for household incomes in Canada and the United States.
The first part of Table 3 compares average household incomes. In 2016, the average householdincome in the United States was US $82,957.7 In the same year, Canadian average householdincome was CAN $88,861. Interestingly, average household incomes in domestic currencies arehigher in Canada. Of course, this is not a meaningful comparison, as price levels differ in the twocountries in domestic currencies, and are in general lower in the United States. Using Statistics
Canada's consumption-based estimates of PPPs, average household income in Canada in US
dollars was between US $74,581, or about 10 per cent below the average in the United States.8
The second part of Table 3 looks at median household incomes. In 2016, the median householdincome in the United States was US $58,849. In the same year, the median household income in
Canada was CAN $70,675. In US dollars, using again the same consumption-based PPPs, this isequivalent to US $59,438. In other words, the median household income in Canada was about 1

extrapolates from the benchmarking year that precedes year t and retropolates (i.e., extrapolates backwards) from thebenchmark year that follows year t, and then takes the geometric means of the retropolated and extrapolated PPPs.
7
These estimates are obtained from sample data. Therefore, they are not accurate to the last dollar.
8
Table 3 shows comparable estimates using PPPs from the OECD.

3

per cent higher than the American median, a much smaller gap than between average householdincomes.
Table 3: Average and Median Household Income, Canada and the United States, Current Dollars and PPP-Adjusted(2016)

2016 Current Dollars
2016 PPP and Source:
Actual Individual
Consumption (OECD)
Private Individual
Consumption (OECD)
Actual Individual
Consumption (Statistics
Canada)2016 Current Dollars
2016 PPP and Source:
Actual Individual
Consumption (OECD)
Private Individual
Consumption (OECD)
Actual Individual
Consumption (Statistics
Canada)Average Household Income in 2016
United States
CAN $ /
US $ /
US $
US $
CAN $
82,957

CanadaCAN $US $Ratioa88,681

0.776

1.288

68,846

0.830

0.748

1.337

66,341

0.800

0.841

1.189

74,581

0.899

Median Household Income in 2016
United States
CAN $ /
US $ /
US $
US $
CAN $
58,849CanadaCAN $US $Ratioa70,675

0.776

1.288

54,868

0.932

0.748

1.337

52,871

0.898

0.841

1.189

59,4381.010

Notes: a) The ratio refers to the ratio of average or median household income in Canada in US $ to the corresponding quantity
in United States in US $.
Source: PPPs are from Statistics Canada Tables 36-10-0367-01 and OECD Statistics SNA Table 4(https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=SNA_Table4). Canadian household incomes are calculated using microdata
from the 2016 Canadian Income Survey (CIS) by Statistics Canada. US household incomes are calculated using microdata fromthe 2017 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey, for 2016 incomes.

These observations reflect the lower income inequality in Canada. One indicator of inequality is
the Gini coefficient. In 2016, this indicator was 0.306 in Canada, compared to 0.391 in the
United States.9 Another indicator is the ratio of the average income to the median. Using the data
in Table 3, that ratio was 1.25 in Canada, compared to 1.41 in the United States. While it is true,
then, that American households are richer than Canadian ones on average, that difference isdriven by much greater incomes at the top of the income distribution. In fact, the microdata used

9

These Gini coefficients are obtained from Osberg, Sharpe, and Stephens (forthcoming). Official estimates of theGini coefficient in the US can differ. In one official table by the US Census Bureau (Historical Income Tables, Table
A-2, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-inequality.html), theGini coefficient in 2016 is estimated at 0.481. The numbers used in this report are meant for international
comparisons.

4

in this report reveals that the top 1 per cent of households in the United States receive about 8.56
per cent of total income, while this group receives only 5.68 per cent of total income in Canada.10
Our income estimates may actually underestimate the economic well-being of Canadians relative
to Americans. Indeed, Canadians usually receive more in-kind benefits from their governments,
including notably in health care (as noted also by Wolfson and Murphy, 1998). Had thesebenefits been included in the estimates, the median augmented household income in Canada
would likely surpass the American median by a greater margin. While these benefits also comewith higher taxes, the progressivity of the income tax system is such that the median household
is most likely a net beneficiary.11

Household Incomes over the Whole Distribution
The figures in the previous section paint only a partial picture of the income differences between
Canada and the United States. The higher income inequality in the United States is such that apotentially large fraction of Canadian households are actually better off than Americanhouseholds at the same point of the income distribution. This section divides each country's
population into 100 equal sized groups, ordered from lowest to highest income. Then withineach of these “percentile” income groups on each side of the Canada-US border, households’
incomes are compared.
To find this information, the analysis proceeds in two steps. First, the detailed microdata is used
to calculate the income forming the boundary between each successive one per cent group of the
distribution of household incomes in both countries. These percentiles cut-points split the income
distribution into 100 intervals that each contain exactly 1 per cent of the households in eachcountry. Second, the average household income is estimated for households in each interval. In
other words, the average household income is estimated within each 1 per cent slice of theincome distribution.12
Table 4 gives these average household incomes for the United States in US dollars. Table 5 gives
the same for Canadian households, in US dollars adjusted using PPPs from Statistics Canada.
Using the estimates from Tables 4 and 5, the difference between the average household incomesin Canada and the United States is calculated within each interval and shown in Table 6. Average
household incomes are higher in all intervals from the second to the 56th percentile.13 In the firstinterval, representing the bottom 1 per cent of the income distribution, a large number ofhouseholds report negative incomes. Negative incomes usually reflect operating losses from
10

These numbers reflect the income share for the top 1 per cent of households, as this grouping is the focus of thisresearch report. It is lower than the more commonly-reported income share for the top 1 per cent of individuals.
11
For example, Wolfson and Corscadden (2014) find that the public health care system is a major source ofredistribution in Canada.
12
Appendix Table 3 provides similar estimates using quintiles and deciles instead of percentiles as cut-off points.
The general picture remains the same; Canadian households in about the bottom half of the income distribution are
better off than their counterparts in the United States.
13
Using the PPPs from the OECD instead, between 25 and 32 per cent of Canadian households would be better off
than their American counterparts. The Appendix provides the full estimates using PPPs from the OECD.

5

small businesses. Therefore, such individuals are not necessarily what we would consider the“poorest” one per cent.14 Abstracting then from households in this first percentile group,
Canadian households with incomes up to the 56th percentile are better off than Americanhouseholds at the same point in the income distribution, meaning that a little over half ofCanadian households are better off.
At the top end of the distribution, American households fare much better. In the top 1 per centinterval, for example, the average household income in the United States is US $288,129 higher
than in Canada (or 57.3 per cent higher), at US $ 711,801 vs. US $423,188. In the interval justbelow (between the 98th and 99th percentile), American households have incomes on average
US $94,127 higher than Canadian ones (or 29.0 per cent higher). However, the difference levels
off quickly, reaching US $23,428 by the 90th percentile (or 13.7 per cent). Again, thisobservation is illustrative of the high income inequality at the top in the United States.
Chart 1 illustrates the differences shown in Table 6, but expressed as a share of Canadian
average household income for each interval, starting with the second.
Chart 1: Difference between Canadian and US Average Household Income Within Each Percentile Interval, 2016,
Expressed as a Percentage of Canadian Average Household in Percentile Interval (PPP-Adjusted using Statistics Canada
PPPs for Actual Individual Consumption)
100
80

40
Per Cent

American households
are better off.

Canadian households
are better off.

60

20
0
2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68 71 74 77 80 83 86 89 92 95 98
-20
-40
-60
-80

Successive 1 Per Cent Groups of the Income Distribution, from Poorer to Richer

Source: Tables 4 and 6.

14

Moreover, different ways to report losses in each country may introduce measurement error.

6

Table 4: Average Household Income Within Each Percentile Interval in the United States, 2016 (US Dollars)

Percentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome

1

-175

26

29,70651

59,604

76

107,345

2

172

27

30,32252

60,473

77

110,222

3

2,287

28

31,46853

62,03478

113,077

4

5,318

29

32,53354

63,71979

116,256

5

7,701

30

33,79055

65,18880

119,637

6

9,033

31

34,94756

66,734

81

122,698

7

9,966

32

35,78957

68,60982

126,457

8

10,86833

36,83858

70,152

83

130,336

911,981

34

38,04459

71,771

84

134,590

10

12,97635

39,52760

73,62885

139,300

11

14,08336

40,234

61

75,15886

144,295

12

15,03437

41,43462

76,702

87

149,584

13

16,02938

42,57963

78,744

88

154,66514

17,10039

43,87864

80,27989

160,735

15

18,17040

45,042

65

82,062

90

167,143

16

19,52541

46,097

66

84,331

91

174,427

17

20,28042

47,46767

86,24592

182,89718

21,21443

48,76968

88,783

93

192,941

19

22,29444

49,984

69

90,686

94

203,775

20

23,46445

50,82070

92,89495

217,40121

24,581

46

52,241

71

95,19096

235,826

22

25,25347

53,73172

97,566

97259,390

23

26,21848

55,03973

99,836

98

296,022

24

27,39949

56,30974

101,75499

366,849

25

28,52350

57,921

75

104,424100

711,801

Notes: The values represent average household income in each interval defined by the indicated percentile (inclusive) and theone preceding it (exclusive). The first interval is between the minimum value and the first percentile. The last interval isbetween the 99th percentile and the maximum value.
Source: Author's calculations using microdata from the 2017 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the U.S. Current
Population Survey.

7

Table 5: Average Household Income Within Each Percentile Interval in Canada, 2016 (PPP-adjusted US Dollars, Using
Statistics Canada PPPs for Actual Individual Consumption)

Percentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome1-1,13026

33,04551

60,29376

99,830

2

4,436

27

34,04352

61,651

77

102,067

3

7,957

28

35,01653

62,98478

104,419

4

9,662

29

35,92554

64,252

79

106,615

5

10,94830

36,93255

65,533

80

109,118

6

12,46931

37,92756

66,835

81

111,4487

14,00932

38,89357

68,021

82

114,262815,30233

39,902

58

69,375

83

116,893916,17834

40,842

59

70,816

84

120,128

10

16,83935

41,79360

72,252

85

123,89711

17,621

36

42,65461

73,722

86

127,678

12

18,56237

43,7296275,141

87

131,182

13

19,66138

44,74763

76,641

88

134,70814

20,731

39

45,96364

78,22189

138,850

15

21,88540

46,91365

79,801

90

143,699

16

23,075

41

48,155

66

81,382

91

148,60317

24,201

42

49,272

67

82,794

92

154,78018

25,32343

50,32868

84,481

93

160,432

19

26,261

44

51,334

69

86,17094

167,559

20

27,20145

52,57970

88,00695

175,38221

28,152

46

53,71771

90,023

96

187,791

22

29,21047

54,951

72

91,911

97

203,968

23

30,21348

56,37473

93,711

98

231,16924

31,22749

57,61374

95,754

99

272,53925

32,18450

58,88975

97,774100

423,188

Notes: The values represent average household income in each interval defined by the indicated percentile (inclusive) andthe one preceding it (exclusive). The first interval is between the minimum value and the first percentile. The last interval
is between the 99th percentile and the maximum value.
Source: Canadian household incomes are calculated using microdata from the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) by Statistics
Canada. Incomes are adjusted using PPPs from Statistics Canada Table 36-10-0367-01 (for actual individual
consumption). In 2016, that PPP was 0.841 CAN $ per US $.

8

Table 6: Difference between PPP-Adjusted Canadian and US Average Household Income, Within Each Percentile
Interval, 2016 (PPP-Adjusted US Dollars, Using Statistics Canada PPPs for Actual Individual Consumption)

Percentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome

1

n.a.*

26

3,374

51

699

76

-7,506

2

4,339

27

3,756

52

1,189

77

-8,153

3

5,669

28

3,592

53

950

78

-8,659

4

4,344

29

3,436

54

536

79

-9,642

5

3,247

30

3,142

55

347

80

-10,519

6

3,483

31

2,981

-11,248

4,075

32

3,106

101
-587

81

7

56
57

82

-12,193

8

4,436

33

3,064

58

-774

83

-13,436

9

4,198

34

2,798

59

-951

84

-14,447

10

3,863

35

2,383

60

-1,37585-15,391

11

3,539

36

2,478

61

-1,437

86-16,597

12

3,529

37

2,297

62

-1,55987-18,384

13

3,634

38

2,171

63

-2,096

88-19,940

14

3,634

39

2,085

64

-2,052

89-21,863

15

3,719

40

1,871

65

-2,255

90-23,428

16

3,695

41

2,058

66

-2,945

91-25,824

17

4,007

42

1,805

67

-3,442

92-28,117

18

4,110

43

1,560

68

-4,233

93-32,495

19

3,965

44

1,351

69

-4,48094-36,182

20

3,786

45

1,762

70

-4,88995-41,975

21

3,744

46

1,502

71

-5,167

96-47,991

22

4,028

47

1,245

72

-5,654

97-55,353

23

3,995

48

1,336

73

-6,124

98-64,728

24

3,898

49

1,303

74

-5,99699-94,127

25

3,724

50

968

75

-6,643100-288,129

Note: *The difference within the first interval is not shown as it includes negative incomes.
Source: Calculated from Tables 4 and 5.

Conclusion
This report compared household incomes in Canada and the United States within each one percent interval of the income distribution. The main finding is that 56 per cent of Canadianhouseholds are better off than American households at the same point of the income distribution.
This result illustrates how the usual comparison of incomes between Canada and the UnitedStates using GDP per capita or average household income hides a critical part of the story.
Indeed, American society has greater income inequality, such that the higher average is driven byincomes at the top of the distribution. For poorer or middle-class Canadians, their incomes
actually compare favourably to those of their American counterparts.

9One limitation is that this analysis has looked only at money incomes before tax. Ideally, a fullcomparison of real incomes and purchasing power between Canadian and US households would
take account of income and payroll taxes. Likely even more important would be to take accountof major government transfers in kind – public education, publicly funded health care, andpublicly supported housing. In a much earlier analysis (Smeeding et al., 1993), these in-kindtransfers were shown to be highly significant, and at that time, in the late 1980s, favoured
Canada much more.
As noted, the results are highly sensitive to the choice of PPP estimates. Future research should
explore the drivers of these differences in PPPs. A second avenue for future research would be to
explore the trends in the observations made in this report. The introduction noted that Wolfson
and Murphy (1998) found that about one third of Canadians were better off than Canadians in
1995. This increase in the proportion of Canadian households that are better off than their
American counterparts reflect the slower increase in economic inequality in Canada compared to
the United States. Indeed, between 1995 and 2016, the Gini coefficient increased by 2.3
percentage points (0.368 to 0.391) in the United States, vs. 1.3 percentage points in Canada(0.293 to 0.306), a difference of 1.0 percentage point (Osberg et al., forthcoming). Producing
comparable estimates over the period between 1995 and 2016 would offer an interesting look at
the evolution of incomes in both countries.

References
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Economic Well-Being,” CSLS Research Report, forthcoming September 2019.
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Wolfson, Michael C. and Brian B. Murphy (1998) “New Views on Inequality Trends in Canada
and the United States,” Monthly Labor Review, April.
Wolfson, Michael C. and Lisa Corscadden (2014) “Does Public Health Care Redistribute fromMe to You, or Just to Myself When I’m Old? On the Lifetime Redistributive Impact of Publicly
Financed Health Care in Canada,” Paper presented at the IARIW 33rd General Conference,
http://www.iariw.org/papers/2014/WolfsonPaper.pdf.

10Appendix: Additional Tables
Appendix Table 1: Average Household Income in Canada Within Each Percentile Interval, 2016 (Canadian Dollars)

Percentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome1-1,34326

39,29351

71,692

76

118,704

2

5,274

27

40,48052

73,307

77

121,364

3

9,461

28

41,63653

74,892

78

124,160

4

11,48929

42,717

54

76,39979

126,7725

13,01830

43,91555

77,92280

129,748

6

14,82631

45,09856

79,471

81

132,518

7

16,65732

46,24657

80,881

82

135,8648

18,19533

47,44658

82,491

83

138,993919,237

34

48,56359

84,205

84

142,840

10

20,02235

49,69460

85,913

85

147,32111

20,95236

50,71861

87,66086

151,81712

22,07237

51,99662

89,347

87

155,983

13

23,37838

53,207

63

91,13088

160,176

14

24,65039

54,65364

93,00989

165,101

15

26,02240

55,782

65

94,88890

170,867

16

27,43741

57,26066

96,76891

176,698

17

28,77642

58,58767

98,44792

184,043

18

30,11043

59,843

68

100,453

93

190,76419

31,22544

61,03969

102,46194

199,238

20

32,34445

62,51970

104,64495

208,540

21

33,47446

63,873

71

107,04396

223,294

22

34,73247

65,34072

109,28897242,53023

35,92548

67,032

73

111,42898

274,874

24

37,13049

68,50574

113,85899

324,06525

38,26850

70,022

75

116,259100

503,196

Notes: The values represent average household income in each interval defined by the indicated percentile (inclusive) and theone preceding it (exclusive). The first interval is between the minimum value and the first percentile. The last interval isbetween the 99th percentile and the maximum value.
Source: Author's calculations using microdata from the 2016 Canadian Income Survey (CIS) by Statistics Canada.

11Appendix Table 2: Difference between Canadian and US Average Household Income Within Each Percentile Interval,
2016, Expressed as a Percentage of Canadian Average Household in Percentile Interval (PPP-Adjusted using Statistics
Canada PPPs for Actual Individual Consumption)

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome

1

n.a.*

26

8.6%

51

1.0%

76

-6.3%

2

82.3%

27

9.3%

52

1.6%

77

-6.7%

3

59.9%

28

8.6%

53

1.3%

78

-7.0%

4

37.8%

29

8.0%

54

0.7%

79

-7.6%

5

24.9%

30

7.2%

55

0.4%

80

-8.1%

6

23.5%

31

6.6%

-8.5%

24.5%

32

6.7%

0.1%
-0.7%

81

7

56
57

82

-9.0%

8

24.4%

33

6.5%

58

-0.9%

83

-9.7%

Percentile

9

21.8%

34

5.8%

59

-1.1%

84

-10.1%

10

19.3%

35

4.8%

60

-1.6%

85

-10.4%

11

16.9%

36

4.9%

61

-1.6%

86

-10.9%

12

16.0%

37

4.4%

62

-1.7%

87

-11.8%

13

15.5%

38

4.1%

63

-2.3%

88

-12.4%

14

14.7%

39

3.8%

64

-2.2%

89

-13.2%

15

14.3%

40

3.4%

65

-2.4%

90

-13.7%

16

13.5%

41

3.6%

66

-3.0%

91

-14.6%

17

13.9%

42

3.1%

67

-3.5%

92

-15.3%

18

13.7%

43

2.6%

68

-4.2%

93

-17.0%

19

12.7%

44

2.2%

69

-4.4%

94

-18.2%

20

11.7%

45

2.8%

70

-4.7%

95

-20.1%

21

11.2%

46

2.4%

71

-4.8%

96

-21.5%

22

11.6%

47

1.9%

72

-5.2%

97

-22.8%

23

11.1%

48

2.0%

73

-5.5%

98

-23.5%

24

10.5%

49

1.9%

74

-5.3%

99

-29.0%

25

9.7%

50

1.4%

75

-5.7%

100

-57.3%

Note: *The difference within the first interval is not shown as it includes negative incomes.
Source: Calculated from Tables 4 and 6.

12

Appendix Table 3: Average Household Income in Canada and the United States, Within Each Deciles and Quintile
Groups, and Difference between Canada and the United States, 2016 (PPP-Adjusted Using Statistics Canada PPPs for
Actual Individual Consumption)

Interval

United States

CanadaDifference

Difference as
Share of Canadian
Average

US $

CAN $

US $

US $

%

1

6,990

12,686

10,669

3,679

34.48

2

18,742

26,722

22,473

3,731

16.60

3

28,972

38,77032,606

3,634

11.14

4

39,81350,33442,331

2,518

5.95

5

51,833

63,40453,323

1,490

2.79

6

66,18878,69566,182

-6

-0.01

7

83,57595,87980,634-2,941-3.65

8106,529

117,844

99,107-7,422-7.49

9142,973

150,144

126,271-16,701-13.23

10

284,067

252,666

212,492-71,575-33.681

12,893

19,691

16,560

3,667

22.15

2

34,41944,55437,470

3,050

8.14

3

59,011

71,04359,747

736

1.23

4

95,052

106,871

89,879-5,173-5.76

5213,520

201,390

169,369-44,152-26.07

Notes: The values represent average household income in each interval defined by the indicated quantile (inclusive)
and the one preceding it (exclusive). The first interval is between the minimum value and the first quantile The lastinterval is between the last quantile and the maximum value.
Source: Author's calculations using microdata from the 2017 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the U.S.
Current Population Survey, for 2016 incomes. Canadian household incomes are calculated using microdata fromthe Canadian Income Survey (CIS) by Statistics Canada. Incomes are adjusted using PPPs from Statistics Canada
Table 36-10-0367-01 (for actual individual consumption). In 2016, that PPP was 0.841 CAN $ per US $.

13

Appendix Table 4: Average Household Income in Canada Within Each Percentile Interval, 2016 (PPP-adjusted US
Dollars, Using OECD PPPs for Actual Individual Consumption)

Percentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome1-1,04326

30,50451

55,65876

92,155

2

4,095

27

31,42652

56,911

77

94,219

3

7,345

28

32,32353

58,14278

96,390

4

8,919

29

33,16354

59,312

79

98,418

5

10,10630

34,09355

60,494

80

100,728

6

11,5103135,011

56

61,696

81

102,879

712,93232

35,902

57

62,791

82

105,4778

14,12533

36,834

58

64,041

83

107,905

914,93434

37,70259

65,372

84

110,892

10

15,54435

38,58060

66,697

85

114,371

11

16,26636

39,374

61

68,053

86

117,86212

17,13537

40,36762

69,363

87

121,09613

18,14938

41,30763

70,74888

124,351

14

19,13739

42,42964

72,207

89

128,175

15

20,20240

43,30665

73,665

90

132,651

16

21,30141

44,453

66

75,125

91

137,17717

22,34042

45,48367

76,42892

142,879

18

23,37643

46,45968

77,985

93

148,09719

24,241

44

47,387

69

79,545

94

154,676

20

25,11045

48,536

70

81,23995

161,898

21

25,98746

49,587

71

83,101

96

173,352

22

26,96447

50,72672

84,844

97

188,285

23

27,89048

52,03973

86,50698

213,395

24

28,82649

53,18374

88,392

99

251,584

25

29,70950

54,361

75

90,257100

390,650

Notes: The values represent average household income in each interval defined by the indicated percentile (inclusive)
and the one preceding it (exclusive). The first interval is between the minimum value and the first percentile. The lastinterval is between the 99th percentile and the maximum value.
Source: Canadian household incomes are calculated using microdata from the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) by
Statistics Canada. Incomes are adjusted using PPPs from the OECD (for actual individual consumption). In 2016, that
PPP was 0.776 CAN $ per US $.

14

Appendix Table 5: Difference between PPP-Adjusted Canadian and US Average Household Income, Within Each
Percentile Interval, 2016 (PPP-Adjusted US Dollars, Using OECD PPPs for Actual Individual Consumption)

Percentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome

1

n.a.*

26

834

51

-3,93776-15,182

2

3,998

27

1,139

52

-3,551

77-16,000

3

5,057

28

899

53

-3,892

78-16,687

4

3,601

29

674

54

-4,40479-17,839

5

2,405

30

302

55

-4,69280-18,909

6

2,525

31

65

56

-5,037

81-19,816

7

2,997

116
-4

-5,817

82-20,978

3,259

32
33

57

8

58

-6,10883-22,423

9

2,954

34

-342

59

-6,395

84-23,683

10

2,568

35

-830

60

-6,931

85-24,917

11

2,184

36

-802

61

-7,105

86-26,414

12

2,102

37

-1,06562-7,33687-28,470

13

2,122

38

-1,27063-7,98988-30,298

14

2,041

39

-1,44964-8,066

89-32,539

15

2,036

40

-1,73665-8,39090-34,477

16

1,921

41

-1,64566-9,202

91-37,249

17

2,146

42

-1,98467-9,80792-40,017

18

2,163

43

-2,31068-10,72893-44,830

19

1,946

44

-2,596

69-11,105

94-49,065

20

1,695

45

-2,28070-11,655

95-55,460

21

1,580

46

-2,62871-12,08996-62,429

22

1,782

47

-2,98072-12,72097-71,035

23

1,672

48

-2,99873-13,32998-82,502

24

1,497

49

-3,12774-13,358

99-115,081

25

1,250

50

-3,56075-14,160

100-320,666

Note: *The difference within the first interval is not shown as it includes negative incomes.
Source: Calculated from Table 4 and Appendix Table 4.

15

Appendix Table 6: Average Household Income in Canada Within Each Percentile Interval, 2016 (PPP-adjusted US
Dollars, Using OECD PPPs for Private Individual Consumption)

Percentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome1-1,00526

29,39451

53,63276

88,801

2

3,946

27

30,28252

54,84077

90,790

3

7,078

28

31,14753

56,02678

92,882

4

8,595

29

31,95654

57,15379

94,836

5

9,738

30

32,852

55

58,29280

97,062

6

11,09131

33,73756

59,451

81

99,135

7

12,461

32

34,59657

60,50682

101,638

8

13,611

33

35,49458

61,71083

103,978

914,391

34

36,32959

62,992

84

106,856

10

14,97835

37,17660

64,27085

110,20811

15,67436

37,941

61

65,577

86

113,572

12

16,51237

38,89762

66,83987

116,68813

17,48938

39,804

63

68,173

88

119,825

14

18,44039

40,88564

69,57989

123,51015

19,46740

41,73065

70,984

90

127,823

16

20,52641

42,83566

72,391

91

132,185

1721,52742

43,82867

73,64692

137,68018

22,52543

44,76868

75,14793

142,70719

23,35944

45,663

69

76,65094

149,047

20

24,19645

46,77070

78,283

95

156,006

21

25,042

46

47,782

71

80,07796

167,043

22

25,98347

48,88072

81,757

97

181,433

23

26,87548

50,14573

83,357

98

205,629

24

27,77749

51,24774

85,175

99242,42825

28,62850

52,38375

86,972

100

376,433

Notes: The values represent average household income in each interval defined by the indicated percentile (inclusive) andthe one preceding it (exclusive). The first interval is between the minimum value and the first percentile. The last interval isbetween the 99th percentile and the maximum value.
Source: Canadian household incomes are calculated using microdata from the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) by Statistics
Canada. Incomes are adjusted using PPPs from the OECD (for private individual consumption). In 2016, that PPP was
0.748 CAN $ per US $.

16

Appendix Table 7: Difference between PPP-Adjusted Canadian and US Average Household Income, Within Each
Percentile Interval, 2016 (PPP-Adjusted US Dollars, Using OECD PPPs for Private Individual Consumption)

Percentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncomePercentile

HouseholdIncome

1

n.a.*

26

-277

51

-5,963

76-18,536

2

3,849

27

-5

52

-5,623

77-19,429

3

4,790

28

-277

53

-6,00878-20,195

4

3,276

29

-533

54

-6,563

79-21,421

5

2,037

30

-938

55

-6,893

80-22,575

6

2,106

31

-1,20956-7,283

81-23,561

7

2,527

32

-1,191

57-8,103

82-24,817

8

2,745

33

-1,34558-8,43983-26,350

9

2,410

34

-1,71459-8,775

84-27,719

10

2,002

35

-2,23460-9,35885-29,079

11

1,592

36

-2,23561-9,582

86-30,703

12

1,478

37

-2,53562-9,86087-32,878

13

1,462

38

-2,773

63-10,564

88-34,823

14

1,344

39

-2,99364-10,69489-37,203

15

1,301

40

-3,31265-11,07190-39,304

16

1,146

41

-3,263

66-11,93691-42,242

17

1,333

42

-3,63967-12,58992-45,217

18

1,312

43

-4,001

68-13,56693-50,219

19

1,063

44

-4,321

69-14,000

94-54,695

20

781

45

-4,04770-14,61295-61,352

21

634

46

-4,433

71-15,113

96-68,738

22

801

47

-4,82672-15,808

97-77,888

23

657

48

-4,892

73-16,47898-90,268

24

448

49

-5,062

74-16,575

99-124,237

25

169

50

-5,53875-17,445100-334,883

Note: *The difference within the first interval is not shown as it includes negative incomes.
Source: Calculated from Table 4 and Appendix Table 6.

17