Real Wage

City guide · Figures as of 23 Oct 2026

What a job in Vancouver really pays per hour

At the typical local salary of $70,443, a full-time office job you reach by public transit pays $20.09 for each hour it actually takes, not the $36.12 the salary suggests. Done fully remotely, the same job pays $27.50 an hour.

Try it with your own numbers

The local figures

Typical salary$70,443 a year (BC average weekly earnings ($1,354.67) × 52)
Effective tax rate22.4% at that salary
Public transit$8.40 a day in 2-zone TransLink fares, 120 minutes round trip
Driving$8.66 a day in gas, plus $16.85 parking; 51 minutes round trip
Other job costsAbout $55 a week at five office days and $20 when remote (estimates)

Every figure is sourced at the bottom of this page.

Four ways to do the same job

The same salary and 37.5 paid hours a week, with no unpaid overtime. Only where you work and how you get there change.

SetupReal hourly wageJob costs a yearCommuting a year
Office five days, by transit$20.09$5,044520 hours
Office five days, by car$20.81$9,493221 hours
Office two days, by transit$24.11$2,642208 hours
Fully remote$27.50$1,0400 hours

Commuting by transit five days a week costs $2,184 a year in fares and takes 520 hours, about 65 eight-hour days. Going in two days a week instead gives back 312 hours and lifts the real wage to $24.11.

Driving instead of taking transit costs $4,449 more a year and gives back 299 hours, so the real wage by car is higher: $20.81 against $20.09 by transit.

What an office job here has to pay

For a five-day office job reached by transit to pay as much per hour as a fully remote job at $70,443, it would need a salary of about $94,030: $23,587, or 33%, more. By car, it would need about $89,167.

This uses the same effective tax rate for both salaries. Extra salary is usually taxed at a higher marginal rate, so the real break-even is somewhat higher. How the break-even salary works.

Where these numbers come from

Figures are in CAD. Round-trip times are average one-way commutes doubled. Driving assumes 14.4 miles each way at 27.2 miles per gallon unless noted. The methodology explains the method and its limits.

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