--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/household-incomes-in-canada-and-the-united-states-who-is-better-off/" title: "Household Incomes in Canada and the United States: Who is Better Off?" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T11:34:06+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-02T11:34:06+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "Canada" - "GDP per capita" - "household income" - "income distribution" - "income inequality" - "purchasing power parity" - "United States" country_focus: - "Canada" - "United States" province_region: - "National" research_theme: - "Economic Well-Being" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # Household Incomes in Canada and the United States: Who is Better Off? Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/household-incomes-in-canada-and-the-united-states-who-is-better-off/ # Household Incomes in Canada and the United States: Who is Better Off? [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2019-01-1.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Lapointe, Simon. 2019. “Household Incomes in Canada and the United States: Who is Better Off?” CSLS Research Report 2019-01. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/household-incomes-in-canada-and-the-united-states-who-is-better-off/ ## Author: - Simon Lapointe Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2019-01 July 2019 19 pages ## Related research [Measuring the Appropriate Outcomes for Better Decision-Making: A Framework to Guide the Analysis of Health Policy Matthew Calver March 2016 | Report 2016-03 | 132 pages](https://csls.ca/research/measuring-the-appropriate-outcomes-for-better-decision-making-a-framework-to-guide-the-analysis-of-health-policy-2016-03/) [Living Standards Domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing Andrew Sharpe, Christopher Ross November 2011 | Report 2011-17 | 124 pages](https://csls.ca/research/living-standards-domain-of-the-canadian-index-of-wellbeing-2011-17/) [Productivity: Key to Economic Success Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) March 1998 | Report 1998-01 | 99 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-key-to-economic-success/) [Productivity Trends: A Canada-U.S. Comparison Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) January 1999 | Report 1999-01 | 6 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-trends-a-canada-u-s-comparison/) [Apprenticeship in Canada: A Training System Under Siege? 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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 all or even most Canadians are worse off than Americans. This report shows that Canadian households 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 the lower 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. Il est fréquemment observé que les Américains sont en moyenne plus riches que les Canadiens. En 2016, par exemple, le PIB par habitant était de 47 294 $US au Canada (en termes de parité de pouvoir d’achat), comparativement à 57 798 $US aux États-Unis. Cependant, cette comparaison entre revenus moyens n’implique pas nécessairement que tous, ou même la plupart des Canadiens se trouvent dans une situation moins favorable que les Américains en termes de revenus. Ce rapport montre que les 56 % des ménages canadiens situés dans la partie inférieure de la répartition des revenus sont en fait mieux nantis que les ménages américains au même niveau de la répartition des revenus. Ce résultat s’explique par l’inégalité des revenus plus faible au Canada, et illustre comment la comparaison habituelle des revenus entre le Canada et les États-Unis, fondée sur le PIB par habitant ou le revenu moyen des ménages, occulte un élément essentiel de l’explication. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2019-01-1.pdf)