North Versus South: Income Disparities in New Brunswick, 2000-2019

This report provides a detailed analysis of income trends and levels in New Brunswick by the province’s three census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and four census agglomerations (CAs) compared to trends and levels in areas outside the CMAs and CAs between 2000 and 2019. The three CMAs are in the southern half of New Brunswick, while the four CAs are in the northern half of the province. The average total and after-tax incomes of census family units are analyzed between 2008 and 2019, while the median total and after-tax incomes of census family units are examined between 2000 and 2019 (the respective longest periods over which the income measures were available for all CMAs and CAs). These income measures reveal significant income disparities between the northern CAs and the southern CMAs. According to all income measures discussed in the report, the Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John CMAs had considerably higher average and median incomes than did the CAs and the areas outside the CMAs and CAs. However, taxes helped lessen these sub-provincial income disparities. Moreover, the gaps between income levels in the three CMAs and in the province as a whole narrowed slightly over the measurement periods. In particular, areas outside the CMAs and CAs outperformed the CMAs and CAs in terms of average and median total and after-tax income growth between 2008 and 2019.