Average salary by age in Canada

Among Canadians who earned any wages, salaries or commissions in 2024, the median was $48,300 and the average $61,500 (Statistics Canada, T1 Family File). That covers everyone with a T4 — part-time, seasonal, students and semi-retired included — which is why it sits below the full-time-salary figures some surveys quote. The core working-age band, 25 to 54, had a median of $60,100 and an average of $72,800. Median wages rose +2.1% from 2023.

Canadians aged 25 to 34 who earned wages had a median of $50,300 and an average of $57,200 in 2024 — men $55,300, women $44,600. Statistics Canada publishes ten-year bands, not single ages, so a 25-year-old is at the bottom of that band and a 34-year-old near the top; a 30-year-old sits around the band median. For contrast, 15-to-24-year-olds — mostly students and first jobs — had a median of $13,100.

Ages 45 to 54: a median wage of $70,100 and an average of $86,900 in 2024, ahead of 35 to 44 ($65,200 median). Earnings then fall to $55,400 at 55 to 64 as part-time work and early retirement start, and to $16,000 among the 23% of people 65 and over who still report any wages. The average runs well above the median in every band because high earners pull it up; the median is the typical worker.

It widens with age. Median wages for men versus women in 2024: $55,300 vs $44,600 at 25–34, $75,000 vs $55,500 at 35–44, and $82,800 vs $59,300 at 45–54 — a gap of $23,500 at the peak. These are medians among all wage earners, so hours worked (more women in part-time roles) are part of the gap, not only pay rates for the same job.

Alberta had the highest median wage in 2024 at $51,000, followed by British Columbia ($50,100) and Ontario ($48,900); Prince Edward Island was lowest at $39,600. On averages, Alberta and Ontario lead ($66,600 and $64,200). Provincial figures are for all ages 15 and over; the full table is below.

No and no. "Wages, salaries and commissions" is T4 employment pay for anyone who reported any in the year, full-time or not, which keeps the medians honest but lower than a full-time-only survey. Self-employment is excluded here; the employment-income column on this page adds it back, and total income adds investment, pension and government-transfer income on top. To see where a given income ranks against people your age, use the income percentile by age tool; to see what it becomes after tax, the income tax calculator.