Housing and Transportation Cost Burden

Housing and transportation represent the two largest expenditures for most households. Housing and transportation costs are often considered to be linked. A lower priced home may be associated with a longer and more expensive commute. Conversely, a shorter commute by transit may be associated with a more expensive home.

Contextual performance measure

Metro 2050 establishes the performance measure as percentage of household income spent on housing and transportation expenses across the region and by tenure and income level.

Progress

This contextual performance measure looks at the percentage of household income spent on housing and transportation expenses across the region and by tenure and income level.

The Housing and Transportation Cost Burden Update 2025 found that housing and transportation costs took up 39% of the pre-tax income of renter households and 33% of the pre-tax income of owner households, based on data from 2017 to 2022.

The first Housing and Transportation Cost Burden Study 2015, which focused specifically on working households, found that owners across the region on average pay about 40% of their pre-tax income on these two major expenditures. For renters, the average is even higher at 49%.

Average Annual Household Cost by Tenure Across the Region (2021)

The figures are averages across geographic areas. This approach necessarily hides much of the variability between households and dwelling units to identify broad spatial patterns. For more details on the methodology and findings, please see the Housing and Transportation Cost Burden Study Update 2025 report.

Average Annual Household Cost in Growth Areas (2021)

Housing and Transportation Cost Burden Study Key Findings

The Housing and Transportation Cost Burden Study Update features a number of exhibits that allow for deep analysis of household cost patterns in the Metro Vancouver region, revealing that:

There is significant variation in costs between Member Jurisdictions and subregions.
Transportation costs can rival, and sometimes exceed, housing costs.
Urban Centres and Major Transit Growth Corridors are more affordable due to factors such as proximity to SkyTrain, availability of rental housing, and smaller unit sizes.
SkyTrain is linked to Housing + Transportation (H+T) affordability. The relatively greater affordability for households living around SkyTrain is facilitated by the type and tenure of development (namely, rental housing and smaller units) available in those neighbourhoods, in addition to the influence of the SkyTrain service itself.
Rental tenure greatly scales the affordability benefits of SkyTrain. Rental tenure, and particularly non-market rental, consistently makes a more significant difference to both housing and transportation costs than transit service alone. However, rental housing tends to concentrate around SkyTrain, suggesting that SkyTrain plays a role in facilitating rental tenure. Promoting the two together – i.e. transit-oriented affordable housing – would yield the greatest benefit.
Population density alone does not materially affect H+T affordability. Regression modelling found that population density had a statistically insignificant relationship with combined H+T costs. Density must be combined with other factors – such as proximity to SkyTrain, rental tenure, and access to jobs – to make an impact on affordability. One implication of this finding is that location and tenure matter; to the extent that it does not offer these attributes, Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing is unlikely to contribute to combined H+T affordability. Transit-Oriented Areas around SkyTrain, on the other hand, could enable greater levels of affordability if the housing is purpose-built rental.
There is no clear relationship – inverse or otherwise – between housing costs and transportation costs. Analysis found that housing and transportation costs behave independently of each other. Therefore, planning decisions should consider both types of costs together, rather than assuming one offsets the other.
Transportation costs are driven largely by vehicle ownership. Across Metro Vancouver, auto costs comprise 98 per cent of total transportation costs. Households with two or more vehicles spend, on average, $30,815 annually on transportation; single-vehicle households spend an average of $13,798; and zero-vehicle households spend an average of $2,530. This suggests that public policy enabling more households to own fewer vehicles (e.g. transit-oriented development) can have an impact on overall household costs.

Source
This information is from Statistics Canada, 2021; Steer, 2024; and Metro Vancouver, Regional Planning and Housing Services internal database.

Data

Contact the Regional Planning and Housing Services Department for more information.

According to Statistics Canada, Electoral Area A is used as the standard geographic unit for housing and income data. However, the transportation cost study only treats UEL and UBC as the standard geography. Since UEL and UBC fall within Electoral Area A and together represent 99.2% of its private Household, this analysis uses the transportation data calculated specifically for UEL and UBC to represent the entire Electoral Area A.
In the Statistics Canada data, Lions Bay, Electoral Area A - North, Bowen Island, Belcarra, Anmore, and Tsawwassen First Nation are classified as distinct geographies for housing and income. However, the transportation cost study merges these small geographies into one standard geography, leading to the same transportation cost figure being applied to each of the four municipalities.
In the Census data, there is no annual shelter cost provided. Therefore, the yearly shelter cost was calculated by multiplying the monthly shelter cost by 12.
The Census data does not provide average shelter costs for both tenures combined; it is only available separately for renters and owners. To estimate the total shelter cost, an average was calculated using the following formula: (Number of Renters * Average Annual Household Housing Costs for renters + Number of Owners * Average Annual Household Housing Costs for owners) / (Total Number of Renters and Owners).
Tsawwassen First Nation and Electoral Area A - North data are limited.
In this analysis, Electoral Area A - North, which includes Barnston Island, Indian Arm, and Howe Sound, has been excluded from the subregional breakdown. This is because the area is divided across three subregions, and detailed data on household income is not available. Moreover, it accounts for only 0.8% of the total number of households in Electoral Area A.
There is limited census-level data on UEL + UBC regarding average annual household costs by tenure. Given that UEL + UBC account for 99.2% of the total number of households in Electoral Area A, the average household cost for the broader Electoral Area has been applied to UEL + UBC.

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies. View our privacy statement.