How do my income and net worth compare with benchmarks?

The threshold depends on whether you are comparing individual income, household income, employment income or after-tax income, and on the year of the data. A percentile calculator should therefore identify the Statistics Canada measure and reference year used.

Canada’s top-1% threshold changes from year to year and varies by the income definition being used. Comparing your income with current official distribution data provides a more meaningful result than relying on an old viral figure.

Net worth varies dramatically by age and household type, and the average can be pulled upward by very wealthy households. Median net worth is often a better benchmark for comparing a typical household within an age group.

The threshold depends on the household wealth distribution and the reference year. Because wealth data is published less frequently than income data, a calculator should clearly disclose the Statistics Canada dataset and date behind the estimate.

Often, yes. The median represents the midpoint of the distribution and is less distorted by a small number of extremely high earners, while an average can be useful for other statistical comparisons.