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The 20 Best Cities In British Columbia To Work, According To A New Study

Best Cities To Work In BC

Photo: Aditya Chinchure

While finding the right job may be getting increasingly harder, BC Business has listed the best B.C. places to work.

The business magazine has released its fifth annual list, where it ranks the places that offer the best opportunities and work-life balance.

RELATED: 8 B.C. Cities Named In Top 25 Most Dangerous Places In Canada

And at the top of the list is Squamish, where the average income is $77,294.

That spot is followed by Whistler and the District of North Vancouver.

“The Sea-to-Sky Corridor owes its strength to several factors, including fast-rising incomes, generous spending on recreation and booming population growth. Squamish edges out Whistler thanks to one of the province’s busiest home construction markets,” states the report.

This year, BC Business took home-building activity into consideration to give a look at the city’s economic fitness, it explained.

Vancouver took a plunge, going from spot number nine to 31. That’s due to high housing costs, longer commute times and mediocre wages for those under 35 years old. (The city also recently placed 41 on best cities in the world).

Eight Factors the Report Considers:

  • Average household income
  • Household income for primary earners under 35 years old
  • Five-year income growth
  • Average household spending on recreation
  • Average shelter costs
  • Five-year population growth and unemployment rate
  • Average commute time
  • Average value of primary real estate
  • House starts per 10,000 residents

Top 20 Places to Work

  1. Squamish
  2. Whistler
  3. District of North Vancouver
  4. Township of Langley
  5. Kelowna
  6. Prince Rupert
  7. City of Langley
  8. City of North Vancouver
  9. Fort St John
  10. Maple Ridge
  11. Coquitlam
  12. Sechelt
  13. Parksville
  14. Surrey
  15. Nanaimo
  16. Delta
  17. Terrace
  18. Port Coquitlam
  19. Salmon Arm
  20. Richmond

And the last place on the list of 46 is Port Alberni. Where do you think your city should rank?

For more B.C. news, check out our News section.

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