Paul Martin's Business Update - September 11th, 2014

This province has the second highest average income in the country. That comes from the latest breakdown of data from income tax returns.

The editors of Sask Trends Monitor have analyzed newly-released tax information to understand the impact of economic expansion over the past decade. Chief among the findings is that the oil patch has a huge impact on income levels.

We used to stand fourth on the measure of average incomes but we passed BC five years ago and Ontario in 2012. Now Alberta is the only province with higher average incomes.

The fastest rising incomes are found in Estevan and Weyburn where the oil business has been generating strong pay scales. Province-wide the average income reported on tax returns was just over $45,000 but in Weyburn it was $55,000 and Estevan came in at an unmatched $66,000. Warman and Martensville were next in line but these two bedroom communities are seeing incomes rise at a faster rate than anywhere else.

The analysis also showed the gap between income levels in Saskatoon and Regina has narrowed with Regina now only marginally higher.

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