North Delta has larger disparities in median annual income than the rest of Delta, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
The 2016 census offers a break down of income by census tracts, which in North Delta roughly correspond to its neighbourhoods: Cougar Canyon, Royal York, Scottsdale/Burnsview, Sunshine Hills, Canterbury Heights, Sunbury/Sunstone, Richardson, Townline and Royal Heights, Kennedy, and Nordel.
In North Delta, the lowest median income is in Nordel, where households make $72,485 a year. The highest is in Sunshine Hills, at $117,632 a year — a difference of $45,147. That is the largest disparity within any of Delta communities. The next highest is in Tsawwassen, where there is a $41,291 difference between the highest and the lowest income areas.
In North Delta, income levels tend to cluster. In the neighbourhoods bordering Scott Road between 72 Ave and 88 Ave, the median income hovers between $72,000 and $75,000 a year — the lowest in the community. However, these areas still have a higher median income than the Surrey neighbourhoods on the other side of Scott Road. Those neighbourhoods have a median income between $60,000 and $65,000.
At the western edge of North Delta, following Highway 91, the incomes are among the highest in Delta: between $100,000 and $120,000.
When the household type changes, so does the median income.
Generally, North Delta census families with two adults and children have the highest median income. In the Cougar Canyon area, which has a median household income of $100,864, a couple with kids makes $123,605. A couple without kids has a median income of $104,192.
Some areas of North Delta have significant differences in the median income of different household types. In Sunshine Hills, for example, a couple with kids makes $145,152, while a single parent family makes a median income of $69,888 — a difference of $75,264.
In all neighbourhoods, single parents households have the lowest median income. The area with the lowest is Nordel, where single parents make a median income of $51,392 a year. The highest is in Royal York, where single parents make $76,416 a year.
The median income for single parents changes depending on whether the parent is a man or a woman. This difference is most obvious in Sunshine Hills, where the median income for a single mother is $57,984 and the median income for a single father is $113,408. In Nordel, single mothers and single fathers have much closer median incomes: $51,264 and $54,400 respectively.
Cougar Canyon and Richardson have the highest proportion of single parents in North Delta — however, the actual number of single parents is quite low, less than 200 individuals per census tract. In all cases, single fathers make up less than 30 per cent of the single parents in any given neighbourhood.
grace.kennedy@northdeltareporter.com
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