B.C. median earnings trail every U.S. state, $13,420 behind Washington
Median employment income in British Columbia was lower in 2024 than in every one of the 50 American states, including Mississippi, and the gap with Washington State next door was $13,420, on the Fraser Institute’s adjusted measure.
The figures come from a commentary published October 13 by Tegan Hill, the institute's director of Alberta policy, and Taylor Oliver, a Fraser intern and public policy master's student, drawing on the free-market think tank's October 8 study comparing Canadian provinces with American states. They land ten days before British Columbians vote in the snap election Premier David Eby called for October 24.
Median employment income in B.C. was $38,177 in 2024. The study measures pre-tax earnings of everyone with earnings, including part-time and self-employed workers, in inflation-adjusted and purchasing-power-adjusted Canadian dollars with a 2017 base. On that basis B.C. sat below all 50 states, including Mississippi at $44,090 and Louisiana at $45,435. Washington State came in at $51,597. GDP per person, on the same adjusted basis, was $60,131 in B.C. in 2024, compared with $107,382 in Washington and $101,842 in California. GDP is gross domestic product, the size of the economy.
The authors trace the gap to investment and productivity. From 2007 to 2024, B.C.'s productivity grew 12.2 percent, against a median of 28.4 percent across U.S. states. The commentary says business investment per worker rose 18.0 percent in B.C. over the same period and 57.9 percent in the United States as a whole. "Productivity ... is a key driver of income growth," the authors write, and firms that invest in machinery, equipment and technology are the ones that can afford to pay more.
Their prescription for whoever wins on October 24: restrain spending and balance the budget, lower uncompetitive tax rates, cut red tape and reduce trade barriers. "The next provincial government, whatever its political stripe, must help get the B.C. economy back on track," they write. The authors do not blame any party.
Eby called the election on September 22, framing it around U.S. President Donald Trump and the threat to B.C. workers. Before the call, his government committed to pausing its planned expansion of the provincial sales tax.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
https://mybook.to/sheila
