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As a city, Halifax is more comparable to Hobart not Adelaide. I haven't been to Winnipeg, but from an internet search it looks more like the Canadian equivalent of Wollongong or Geelong. In terms of lifestyle, amenities and desirability, Vancouver and Adelaide are a pretty good match.
And if you look at other key metrics, Canadians live in smaller homes, own fewer cars and pay a higher proportion of their income in taxes compared to Australians.
My feeling is that Australia has just has much an urge to be a Superpower, as Canada. Meaning, not much.
Who wants a target on their back LOL.
Now as for your list... I'm not even going to look up whether or not infamously inaccurate wiki is true or false, but lets say it is accurate.
Car ownership. What does a slightly higher car ownership mean? Does it mean that cars and fuel are cheaper or that people are wealthier, or more willing to go into debt to get a car....because they need one?
For myself I don't equate higher car ownership as a good thing. People without cars still need to get around, so perhaps those options exist for them?
Home size is another. Your link is for NEW builds only. Canada has historically had very big houses. It's the current trend in the last 10 or so years to live smaller. Some is of course fuelled by real estate costs, especially here in Vancouver and Toronto, but a lot of it is lifestyle choices.
I prefer my condo to a house, at this stage of my life, because I don't want to spend time and money on looking after a garden, fixing roofs etc.
SFH themselves are getting smaller as well. A generation has seen what they perceive as wasteful living, and want to pare it down a bit.
Taxes I've covered in another post.
PS Those Australian cities you are comparing to Halifax. Halifax has 3 times their population. Not sure if that's a metric you want to consider.
Natnasci, I'd bet if you compared car debt in Oz vs US, US would be way higher.
Probably, but I don't care too much about the US, since I live in Canada...although Canadian household debt has been on the increase. We used to be a nation of savers.
PS Those Australian cities you are comparing to Halifax. Halifax has 3 times their population. Not sure if that's a metric you want to consider.
Halifax has 3 times the population of Hobart; not from any of the stats I've seen.
They are actually very comparable cities. They are both the capital of relatively small states/provinces, with those states/provinces some distance from the major economic and political corridors of their respective countries. In terms of their economies, both support a degree of high end manufacturing in the ship building sector, Irving in Halifax and Incat in Hobart. They're both older cities compared to the rest of the country,
And while neither would be considered the cultural capital of their countries, they do have some interesting spots.
im an american, i live in oz... everything is more expensive in oz...
on average, is pay higher for unskilled workers in aus as opposed to americas unskilled labor force??? yes...
the usa has something that australia doesnt really have - mid major cities. In oz you either live in one of the major cities and/or their metro areas and deal with their cost of living or you are in some bfe lil town with limited services. the biggest regional town not a metro of some city in aus would be what? Albury wodonga at 80-90k people.
my brother lives a mile from the vegas strip and pays 600 bucks a month for rent in a studio - thats mid major living. when i lived in austin tx, i was paying roughly the same for a 2br unit a couple of miles from the city center..AND yes, austin is another mid major city. BUT the market has been hot for years, so im sure the prices will reflect that now... however, how much did i make in austin as a unskilled worker.. 700-1200 (938-1609 aud) a week.. my wages varied with tips..
food costs is nearly twice as much in oz and thats just how it is.... some things are comparable but overall its more expensive here.. Choices are limited too... however, some people do not realize that oz is roughly 23 mil people when the usa is roughly 318 mil strong... that will reflect in purchasing power, more diverse products/services and competition across the board... aus is monopoly central for most things.... and prices/standards reflect this
we bought a house for 330k in semi bfe...... what would that get me in a decent mid major city... or a larger city like dallas??? they dont even compare
+1
For example a big city like Atlanta...lots of opportunities for low and mid-level work and you can buy a house for less than 100K.....in Australia??
The difference in my province is $1327 on an income of $37000
With a wage of $50,000 it's almost exactly the same with Australia being $8,,547 and here in BC it's $8372.
It's higher in other provinces though.
The difference flips in Canada's favour when someone makes $60,000 a year.
It obviously is going to vary in which deductions one can make, like RRSP's and a tax free savings account that we have in Canada. I'm unfamiliar with Australia's tax system, but do you have these as well?
Also what deductions are taken off your paycheques, other than income tax? We have EI ( employment insurance, and CPP ( Canada Pension Plan ) as well as income tax.
Again it varies where one lives. Canada's GST is 5 percent compared to Australia's 10 percent, but we have sales tax except in Alberta. Here in B.C. if there is both GST and PST ( provincial sales tax ) on a product or service we pay 12 percent.
It just too easy to just compare income tax rates. For fun, I looked at Property Transfer Taxes in B.C. compared to Stamp Duty in NSW on a property worth $500,000. In BC it's $8,000, in NSW it's $18,318. $10,000 more.
My point is that taxes can be vary wildly depending on the person, and that income taxes alone don't prove or disprove whether someone is better off or not.
Well i was not replying to anything you said. The point was we have very generous tax rates for minimum wage earners in Australia. (Though they still always complain about how much tax they pay).
I manage CA practice for a living and could go on for hours about taxes in Australia.
One thing is that we don't have is any specific social security taxes.
Australia superannuation is paid by the employers in addition to the wages. Your average person who says they earn 30K would actually earn 9.5% more than that. The first 9.5 % is deposited into a trust account by the employer, and stays there until a person retires.
Halifax has 3 times the population of Hobart; not from any of the stats I've seen.
They are actually very comparable cities. They are both the capital of relatively small states/provinces, with those states/provinces some distance from the major economic and political corridors of their respective countries. In terms of their economies, both support a degree of high end manufacturing in the ship building sector, Irving in Halifax and Incat in Hobart. They're both older cities compared to the rest of the country,
And while neither would be considered the cultural capital of their countries, they do have some interesting spots.
From what I see on Google
"At the 2011 census there were 211,656 people in the greater Hobart area and the City of Hobart local government area had a population of 48,703. A"
"Halifax, Nova Scotia. Halifax (/ˈhælᵻfæks/, locally /ˈhɛlᵻfæks/), legally known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The metropolitan area had a population of 414,400 in 2014"
So double. I don't what I was looking at earlier the put Halifax over 600,000...but it was pre-coffee
But you pay higher taxes so what remains from this $15?
You're effective tax rate on the minimum wage 40 hour week 48 weeks/year is about 7.5%, leaving $13.875/hour. And that minimum wage is for permanent employees, casual employees get a 25% casual loading in lieu of sick/holiday pay. The idea Australia is a high taxing country is nonsense.
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