Income

Median income is defined as the income amount that falls in the middle of a range of incomes. For example, if the income for all Peel residents was written in a list in increasing order, the median income would be the dollar amount that was in the exact centre of the list. The median income in Peel in 2000 for persons 15 years of age and over was $27,969. Peel had the second lowest median income in the GTA (ahead of the City of Toronto with $23,491). Halton had the highest median income with $31,746.

Household income is the sum of the total incomes of all members of a household. Peel had a median household income of $69,162 in 2000. Peel ranked third in the GTA, behind York ($75,719) and Halton ($74,946) and ahead of Durham ($66,832) and Toronto ($49,345).

After adjusting for inflation, median household income in Peel has declined slightly over the last decade, falling from $70,384 in 1990 to $69,162 in 2000. The income gap (or the disparity in income between the people in low income groups and the people in high income groups) is widening. This means that people in higher income groups are experiencing larger income increases than people in lower income groups.

The Low-Income Cutoff (LICO) is an income threshold below which a person or family is considered to be living in poverty. LICOs are set according to the proportion of annual family income spent on food, shelter and clothing. In 1990, 9.8% of persons living in private households were considered to be living in low income. By 2000, this percentage had risen to 11.6%.