City snapshot
Cost of living in Nanaimo
Nanaimo, British Columbia.
3-category planning baseline
$2,428
Total annual: $29,136
Balanced salary needed
$49,200
Balanced
Population
129,750
2025 · Nanaimo (CMA), British Columbia · Statistics Canada
Crime Severity Index
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Sources and methodology
Open this scenario in the income calculator ($49,200 in Nanaimo), 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: 89% (A) · 2025
Advertised Rent
2026-04 · Nanaimo, Census metropolitan area (CMA)
2026-04 · Nanaimo, Census metropolitan area (CMA)
2025 · British Columbia
Local Indicators
Nanaimo, Census metropolitan area (CMA)
3-category planning baseline
Rent is the advertised 1-bedroom rent above (Statistics Canada Quarterly Rent Statistics), the same figure used on every page for this city. Groceries and transport are planning estimates.
Move-in costs
Generic planning assumption only. Provincial rules and your lease may permit a different deposit.
Plan the next step
Housing and rent
1-bedroom rent: $1,740.
1-bedroom rent: $1,740 · Total monthly: $2,428
How this city compares
Nanaimo ranks #9 of 47 tracked cities by the 3-category planning baseline and is +$311 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 Nanaimo.
Best for
Nanaimo is strongest for british columbia context and a higher baseline than the tracked-city average.
Watch out for
1-bedroom rent is the largest cost driver in the baseline. Plan around $2,428 per month before discretionary spending, plus about $6,580 for a basic move-in setup.
Local reality check
Rent represents about 72% of the baseline essentials shown here. Compared with the tracked-city average, this city is +$311.
Living in Nanaimo: what to budget for
Use this page as a starting point for Nanaimo: 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.
Common questions
- What is included in Nanaimo'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 Nanaimo 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.