Comparing Employment Income in Toronto and Selected American Metropolitan Areas
— Published on February 15, 2024
- Several recent Fraser Institute studies have found that a “prosperity gap” exists between Ontario and nearby American states. Additional research has shown that the province experienced weak economic growth throughout the 2010s.
- This paper turns to an examination of the labour market performance of Ontario and Canada’s largest CMA, the metropolis of Toronto. Specifically, we examine median employment income in the 15 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States (CMAs) United States (MSAs) in 2019. Toronto is the only Canadian metropolitan area large enough to qualify for this list.
- We find that Toronto has the lowest level of median employment income amongst the 15 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States. The gap between Toronto and the lowest ranking US MSA, Miami, was $2,030 in 2019. The gap was larger for all other US MSAs analyzed here.
- This study also measures growth in median employment earnings during the 2010s. On this indicator, Toronto also fared poorly. Toronto’s annual median employment income growth rate of 0.4 per cent ranked 10th out of the 15 metropolitan areas.
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