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Porn for stats geeks: BC ridings profiled online

If you are the kind of person who loves provincial elections and adores statistics — and, really, doesn’t that describe nearly every one? — then the latest offering from BC Stats, B.C. Provincial Electoral District Profiles, is right up your alley.

Released one week before Christmas, each Profile has 27 pages of statistics culled from the 2006 Canada census for each of the province’s 85 new electoral districts.

That’s a whopping 2,295 pages in total, each one chock-full of numbers, and more than enough to keep the most avid reader fully occupied until voters go to the polls on May 12.

Interested in knowing which ridings have the highest-priced homes? Look under ‘Average value of owner-occupied private dwellings,’ and you’ll discover that the typical home in Vancouver-Quilchena clocks in at a stunning $1,050,754. (That compares to a province-wide home average of $418,703.)

Next highest is West Vancouver-Capilano at nearly $905,000, followed by West Vancouver-Sea to Sky at about $815,000, and Vancouver-Point Grey at just over $812,000.

Leading the way on Vancouver Island is Oak Bay-Gordon Head at $639,000, while the priciest homes in the province’s Interior are situated in Kelowna-Mission, where the average is $400,000.

B.C.’s least-expensive properties are to be found in the province’s North. In Cariboo North, Nechako Lakes and North Coast, the average home is priced at between $152,000 and $155,000; while in Skeena the typical residence goes for $135,000.

Of course, not everyone owns their residence. Across the province, 30.1% of British Columbians live in rental accommodation, and another 0.2% are in band housing.

In six of B.C.’s 85 electoral districts, renters represent more than half of the population. All but one of those six ridings are in the city of Vancouver.

Leading the way is Vancouver-West End, where 78.9% of residents are renters, followed by Vancouver-Mount Pleasant at 74.4%. Next is Victoria-Beacon Hill at 63.0%; Vancouver-Fairview, 58.0%; Vancouver-False Creek, 52.4%; and Vancouver-Point Grey, 51.4%.

The average gross rent exceeds $1,000 per month in 18 electoral districts. West Vancouver-Capilano has the highest average monthly rents at $1,568, followed by Vancouver-Quilchena at $1,487.

The most-affordable rental prices are in the North and the Interior. In North Coast, the monthly average is $593; in Nechako Lakes, $611; Cariboo North, $614; and in Fraser-Nicola, $615.

There is an endless supply of demographic information in the Profiles as well. For example, North Coast is home to the highest number of aboriginal British Columbians, 10,250, followed by Fraser-Nicola at 7,155.

Vancouver-Kingsway boasts the largest number of visible-minority British Columbians, 43,970, closely followed by Vancouver-Fraserview at 42,710.

Other ridings with sizeable visible-minority residents include Richmond East at 41,560; Richmond Centre, 41,185; Vancouver-Langara, 39,910; Vancouver-Kensington, 38,665; and Surrey-Newton, 37,135.

Stikine, at just 470, has the fewest number of visible-minority British Columbians.

Finally, for political junkies anxious to prepare for the up-coming provincial general election, the Profiles contain a wealth of information on British Columbians’ incomes, which in previous elections has been a useful indicator of voting intentions.

The highest average, before-tax family incomes are found in Vancouver-Quilchena. At $170,942, that’s more than twice the provincial average of $80,511.

Other high family incomes may be found in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, at $142,832; West Vancouver-Capilano, $140,142; and Vancouver-Point Grey, $114,868; and Oak Bay-Gordon Head, $109,508.

Surprisingly, in B.C.’s North and Interior, the highest family incomes are in Peace River North at $93,539. The riding’s booming natural-gas sector likely is the major contributing factor.

The province’s lowest average family incomes are in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, $55,971; Nelson-Creston, $59,327; and Boundary-Similkameen, $59,651.

All of these statistics, and much, much more, may be found here.

Happy reading!

Veteran political analyst Will McMartin is a Tyee contributing editor.


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