- An average Toronto condo (~$651,000) needs roughly $147,000 of qualifying income. An average detached/semi home (~$1.13M) needs about $254,000.
- For a single buyer aged 25–34, the condo threshold sits near the 95th percentile of their age group, and the house threshold sits at essentially the 99th.
- Toronto's median household earns about $100,505 — roughly 68% of what an average condo requires, and 40% of what an average house requires.
"You need a six-figure income to buy in Toronto" is true but useless — it doesn't tell you how rare that income actually is for someone your age. This page fixes that by combining two datasets the home-page calculator already uses: the income needed to qualify for a mortgage, and the full income distribution by age cohort from Statistics Canada's T1FF tax-filer data.
Step 1: how much income each home type requires
Using the site's qualifying-income benchmark (about 22.5% of the purchase price — see the methodology for why), the three city-wide benchmarks translate as follows:
| Home type | Benchmark price | Qualifying income |
|---|---|---|
| Condo (city-wide) | $651,350 | ~$147,000 |
| Condo (City of Toronto, TRREB) | $717,210 | ~$161,000 |
| All dwellings (average) | $1,096,710 | ~$247,000 |
| Detached / semi ("other dwellings") | $1,127,744 | ~$254,000 |
These are single-applicant qualifying incomes at a representative mid-5% mortgage rate. Higher rates push every figure up; you can watch that happen live with the rate slider on the home page.
Step 2: where those numbers land in your age group
Here is the heart of it. Statistics Canada's T1FF data gives the income at each percentile, by age. The table below shows the 50th (median), 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile incomes for each cohort — and then the approximate percentile you'd have to reach to hit the condo ($147K) and house ($254K) thresholds on a single income.
| Age | Median (P50) | P90 | P95 | P99 | Condo = ~pctile | House = ~pctile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25–34 | $45,200 | $108,000 | $142,000 | $255,000 | ~95th | ~99th |
| 35–44 | $61,200 | $148,000 | $205,000 | $390,000 | ~90th | ~97th |
| 45–54 | $68,400 | $172,000 | $245,000 | $465,000 | ~84th | ~95th |
| 55–64 | $54,800 | $146,000 | $218,000 | $440,000 | ~90th | ~96th |
"Condo = ~pctile" is the percentile of that age group whose income equals the ~$147,000 condo threshold; "House = ~pctile" uses the ~$254,000 detached threshold. Percentiles are interpolated between the published points and rounded.
What this actually means
Read the 25–34 row slowly. A typical worker in their late twenties or early thirties earning the median $45,200 isn't close — they're at about 31% of the income an average condo requires. To buy that condo alone, they'd need to out-earn roughly 95% of their peers. To buy an average detached home alone, they'd need to be a near-perfect top-1% earner for their age. That isn't hyperbole; it's just the $255,000 ninety-ninth-percentile income sitting almost exactly on the $254,000 house threshold.
It eases only slightly with age. By 45–54 — the peak earning years — an average condo finally drops to around the 84th percentile, still firmly in the top fifth of earners. An average house never falls below the 95th percentile in any cohort.
Why younger buyers are hit hardest
The qualifying thresholds don't care how old you are — a condo needs ~$147,000 whether you're 28 or 58. But the income distribution shifts dramatically with age. Earnings peak in the 45–54 cohort (median $68,400) and the upper tail stretches much higher there. So the same price tag represents a far more extreme percentile for a younger person than an older one. This is the structural reason the affordability squeeze falls disproportionately on people in their twenties and thirties: they face identical prices with a distribution that sits well below them.
Two incomes change the picture — but not as much as you'd hope
Most buyers aren't solo, so split the thresholds across a couple. For an average condo, $147,000 between two people is about $73,500 each — which happens to be almost exactly the 75th percentile income for the 25–34 cohort ($72,500). In other words, a young couple where both partners out-earn three-quarters of their peers can just clear an average condo.
For an average detached home, $254,000 split two ways is about $127,000 each — roughly the 92nd percentile for 25–34. Two strong incomes, both in the top ~10% of their age group, to buy an average house. Dual income helps, but it doesn't make Toronto ordinary-affordable; it just moves the bar from "nearly impossible alone" to "requires two well-above-average earners."
How to check your own number
The home-page calculator does this interactively: enter your income, pick your age cohort, and it shows your exact percentile and whether you clear the condo and house thresholds, with a live mortgage-rate slider. If you want to understand the mortgage rule driving the qualifying income, read the stress test guide; if you want every formula and assumption, the methodology page lays them out.
A caveat worth repeating: these thresholds use a simplified qualifying-income benchmark and StatCan estimates, not your verified income or a lender's full assessment. They're built to reveal the scale of the gap, not to pre-approve you. See the terms of use.