Categories: Lifestyle

Here’s how much you have to make per hour to live in each Alberta city

Photo Via Kelly Hofer / unplash

With Edmonton and Calgary recognized as two of North America’s most affordable places to call home, it’s no surprise that many have taken an interest in the wild rose province. Luckily for the curious kittens considering a move, Alberta’s Living Wage Network recently released a report that actually states exactly how much you need to make per hour to live comfortably in each city.

By taking everything from the necessities like food, clothing, and shelter into account, as well as the unexpected costs like education and child care, here’s what they said were the liveable wages in 2021.

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According to their breakdown, Alberta’s most affordable city was actually Strathcona County with a living wage of only $16.80 after taxes. This was a far cry from the province’s most expensive town – Canmore, where residents have to rake in $37.40 per hour to survive.

Fun fact, this was actually more than it cost to reside in Canada’s most notoriously expensive cities, Vancouver, where the living wage was $20.52, and Toronto, where LW was $22.08.

Other places like Fort McMurray, Cochrane, and Drumheller were also surprisingly pricey, costing residents anywhere from $19.70 to a whopping $27.35 an hour to live – which is crazy considering minimum wage in Alberta is only $15.

Here’s what they found were the living wages in Alberta’s other major cities:

Calgary: $18.60
Canmore: $37.40
Chestermere: $18.60
Cochrane: $22.60
Drumheller: $19.70
Edmonton: $18.10
Fort McMurray: $27.35
Lethbridge $19.00
Red Deer $17.15
Rocky Mountain House $18.05
Stony Plain: $17.20
Strathcona County: $16.80

For more information about how they came up with this list or to see their report for yourself, you can visit Alberta’s Living Wage Network website here – otherwise, let us know what you think on our socials! Do you think the price of living is too high, too low or just right, we want to hear from you!