City snapshot
Cost of living in Brandon
Brandon offers affordable prairie living with a strong agricultural base and university town atmosphere.
3-category planning baseline
$1,334
Total annual: $16,008
Balanced salary needed
$32,300
Balanced
Population
62,723
2025 · Brandon (CA), Manitoba · Statistics Canada
Crime Severity Index
130.0
Manitoba province proxy
Open this scenario in the income calculator ($32,300 in Brandon), then try your own salary, city or pay frequency.
Change salary or provinceOfficial Basic-Needs Budgets
Market Basket Measure totals and advertised rent answer different questions. Rent is not added to the budget total because the MBM already includes a shelter component.
Data coverage: 79% (B) · 2025
Advertised Rent
2025 · Manitoba
Local Indicators
Brandon, Manitoba
3-category planning baseline
No advertised 1-bedroom rent is published for this city, so rent is a planning estimate, as are groceries and transport.
Move-in costs
Generic planning assumption only. Provincial rules and your lease may permit a different deposit.
Plan the next step
City profile
Housing and rent
Lower-cost regional housing compared with Winnipeg and major Canadian metros.
1-bedroom rent: $810 · Total monthly: $1,334
Commute and daily life
Short car commutes with local transit coverage
Safety context
Brandon's safety snapshot uses the Crime Severity Index for Manitoba province proxy. CSI compares police-reported crime volume and seriousness; it is not a neighbourhood-level risk score.
- Crime Severity Index
- 130.0
- Violent CSI
- 194.6
- Non-violent CSI
- 105.3
Data note: CSI uses Manitoba provincial data because Brandon is not published separately in the selected CSI table.
How this city compares
Brandon ranks #47 of 47 tracked cities by the 3-category planning baseline and is -$783 versus the cross-city average.
Salary guide for this city
Use these gross salary ranges as planning targets before running a detailed after-tax scenario for Brandon.
Best for
Brandon is strongest for most affordable housing in canada and a lower baseline than the tracked-city average.
Watch out for
1-bedroom rent is the largest cost driver in the baseline. Plan around $1,334 per month before discretionary spending, plus about $4,720 for a basic move-in setup.
Local reality check
Rent represents about 61% of the baseline essentials shown here. Compared with the tracked-city average, this city is -$783.
Living in Brandon: what to budget for
Use this page as a starting point for Brandon: monthly essentials, move-in cash, salary targets, local population context, housing notes and safety data are shown together so you can move from research to a concrete budget.
Brandon is Manitoba's second-largest city, located in the heart of the Canadian prairies.
The city serves as a regional hub for agriculture, healthcare, and education with Brandon University.
Housing costs in Brandon are among the most affordable in Canada, making it ideal for families.
The city offers a relaxed pace of life with all essential amenities and a tight-knit community feel.
Highlights
- Most affordable housing in Canada
- University town atmosphere
- Strong agricultural economy
- Regional healthcare hub
- Relaxed prairie lifestyle
Common questions
- What is included in Brandon's monthly baseline?
- The baseline includes a 1-bedroom rent estimate, groceries and transport for one adult. It is a planning baseline, not a quote.
- Why do some metrics use a CMA or province?
- National public datasets often publish city data by census metropolitan area, census agglomeration, province or territory. The geography is shown beside each metric.
- How should I use the Brandon salary estimate?
- Use it as a gross-income target, then run the income calculator with your province, city and real costs.
Sources and methodology
- Population: Statistics Canada table 17-10-0148-01, latest annual estimate; Census Profile fallback when noted.
- Crime Severity Index: Statistics Canada table 35-10-0026-01, latest published year.
- Basic-needs budgets: MBM tables 11-10-0066-01 and 11-10-0104-01. Advertised rent: Quarterly Rent Statistics table 46-10-0092-01.
Data used on this page
Advertised rent, basic-needs budgets, and local indicators each retain their own period, geography, and method.