City snapshot
Cost of living in Yellowknife
Yellowknife offers northern wages, diamond industry jobs, and world-class aurora viewing.
3-category planning baseline
$2,280
Total annual: $27,360
Balanced salary needed
$52,300
Balanced
Population
23,826
2025 · Yellowknife (CA), Northwest Territories · Statistics Canada
Crime Severity Index
526.9
Northwest Territories proxy
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: 79% (B) · 2025
Advertised Rent
2025 · Northwest Territories
Local Indicators
Northwest Territories, Yellowknife
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
Northern construction and transport costs keep housing and essentials expensive.
Planning rent estimate (1bd): $1,757 · Total monthly: $2,280
Commute and daily life
Short car commutes and limited transit in northern conditions
Safety context
Yellowknife's safety snapshot uses the Crime Severity Index for Northwest Territories proxy. CSI compares police-reported crime volume and seriousness; it is not a neighbourhood-level risk score.
- Crime Severity Index
- 526.9
- Violent CSI
- 571.6
- Non-violent CSI
- 513.5
Data note: CSI uses Northwest Territories data because a Yellowknife CMA/CA row is not published in the selected CSI table.
How this city compares
Yellowknife ranks #22 of 47 tracked cities by the 3-category planning baseline and is +$116 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 Yellowknife.
Best for
Yellowknife is strongest for high northern wages and a higher baseline than the tracked-city average.
Watch out for
Planning rent estimate (1bd) is the largest cost driver in the baseline. Plan around $2,280 per month before discretionary spending, plus about $6,614 for a basic move-in setup.
Local reality check
Rent represents about 77% of the baseline essentials shown here. Compared with the tracked-city average, this city is +$116.
Living in Yellowknife: what to budget for
Use this page as a starting point for Yellowknife: 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.
Yellowknife is the capital of the Northwest Territories, offering high wages in the resource sector.
The city provides excellent northern benefits to offset higher living and housing costs.
Major employers include the territorial government, diamond mines, and tourism.
The city is one of the best places in the world to view the aurora borealis.
Highlights
- High northern wages
- Aurora borealis viewing
- Diamond industry jobs
- Unique northern culture
- Great Slave Lake access
Common questions
- What is included in Yellowknife'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 Yellowknife 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.