Households in Nelson are making far less than the average incomes provincially and nationally.
The city’s median household income in 2015 before tax was $56,714, according to 2016 census data released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday.
That amount is well below the provincial average of $69,995 and the national average of $70,336. The highest provincial average in the country belongs to the Northwest Territories at $117,688, while New Brunswick had the lowest at $59,347.
Elsewhere, average income in the Regional District of Central Kootenay was $55,532, Salmo’s was $47,296 and Kaslo’s was $44,096.
Nelson also features the second highest percentage of low-income individuals in the province at 18.3 per cent of the city’s population in private households. That number is down just 0.6 per cent from the 2005 census, and trails only Port Alberni at 20.3 per cent.
Furthermore, the numbers revealed 1,095 Nelson households made over $100,000 in 2015, while 145 were above $200,000. There were far more wealthy homes in the RDCK, with 5,995 making over $100,000.