That maclean's article was interesting. ExDH and I are each on our own in the top 20%, and together we were in the top 20%, and that was with the moaning and groaning about CEGEP salaries. However, once we look at the provincial breakdown, in Ontario we are right in the middle - that is what happens when you work in a lower income province and live in a higher income province. I would still be right in the middle in BC, and doing very nicely if I were in the Maritimes.
I wish they had published the breakdowns for top 20%, top 10% and top 5% - income distribution is not a bell curve, it has a long right-hand tail. I found this from Stats-Can for 2010:
High Income Group Highlights
According to StatsCan, 10% of Canadians had total incomes of more than $80,400 in 2010 based on the after-tax income of their economic families. To be in the top 5%, Canadians needed to have a total in-come threshold slightly above $102,300, and to be in the top 1% just over $191,100.
The top 10% of Canadian families (the top decile) made an average income of $134,900, with the top 5% making one third more at $179,800 and the top 1% almost triple that amount at $381,300.
Investment income is an important source of income for those in the top decile. 56.7% of all investment income reported was received by this group, while 11.3% went to those in the next highest decile.
Reading the report, the low income is skewed a bit (I have no idea how much) by teens, since 15 year olds are filing income taxes. Anyone pursuing higher education (College, University) is most likely working but part-time so they also bring income down. We can also see the right hand tail, as incomes jump in larger increments as we go into the top brackets.
And just for looking at data, isn't it convenient that we do individual income taxes instead of joint? We can see individuals, whether they are single or married. And because of the way some benefits are calculated, we can also see family numbers.