City snapshot
Cost of living in Saskatoon
Saskatoon offers affordable prairie living with growing opportunities in agriculture and technology.
3-category planning baseline
$1,802
Total annual: $21,624
Balanced salary needed
$43,800
Balanced
Population
378,475
2025 · Saskatoon (CMA), Saskatchewan · Statistics Canada
Crime Severity Index
98.9
Saskatoon CMA
Official 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: 100% (A) · 2025
Advertised Rent
2026-04 · Saskatoon, Census metropolitan area (CMA)
2026-04 · Saskatoon, Census metropolitan area (CMA)
2026-04 · Saskatoon, Census metropolitan area (CMA)
2026-04 · Saskatoon, Census metropolitan area (CMA)
2025 · Saskatchewan
Local Indicators
Saskatoon, Census metropolitan area (CMA)
3-category planning baseline
Compact estimated baseline for cross-city planning. The observed advertised rent above is the canonical market-rent value.
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
Moderate costs supported by university, health, resource and agriculture sectors.
Planning rent estimate (1bd): $1,281 · Total monthly: $1,802
Commute and daily life
Car commuting, local transit and university-area cycling/walking
Safety context
Saskatoon's safety snapshot uses the Crime Severity Index for Saskatoon CMA. CSI compares police-reported crime volume and seriousness; it is not a neighbourhood-level risk score.
- Crime Severity Index
- 98.9
- Violent CSI
- 130.6
- Non-violent CSI
- 87.0
How this city compares
Saskatoon ranks #37 of 47 tracked cities by the 3-category planning baseline and is -$371 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 Saskatoon.
Best for
Saskatoon is strongest for very affordable housing and a lower baseline than the tracked-city average.
Watch out for
Planning rent estimate (1bd) is the largest cost driver in the baseline. Plan around $1,802 per month before discretionary spending, plus about $5,780 for a basic move-in setup.
Local reality check
Rent represents about 71% of the baseline essentials shown here. Compared with the tracked-city average, this city is -$371.
Living in Saskatoon: what to budget for
Use this page as a starting point for Saskatoon: 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.
Saskatoon is Saskatchewan's largest city, known as the "Paris of the Prairies" for its river valley.
The city offers very affordable housing and daily living costs compared to major centers.
Major industries include agriculture, mining, and increasingly technology and education.
The South Saskatchewan River creates beautiful scenery through the heart of the city.
Highlights
- Very affordable housing
- Growing tech sector
- University research hub
- Beautiful river valley
- Strong community feel
Common questions
- What is included in Saskatoon'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 Saskatoon 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.