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| It's Community survey time for MoneySense |
The annual review of Canadian communities by the financial magazine MoneySense has boosted the ranking of Prince Rupert by one spot for 2016, placing the community at 196 of its overview of 219 communities.
The nudge up on the year and an increase in the overall number of communities that were reviewed has offered a bit more of a cushion for the community when it comes to the British Columbia rankings, with Prince Rupert ranked as the fourth lowest BC community on the list.
Looking to catch up to the North Coast in 2017 will be Quesnel which holds down spot number 200 and Port Alberni ranked at 210.
Surprisingly we imagine for some, outside of the weather, MoneySense doesn't have high marks for Penticton a popular spot in the Okanagan. That community was ranked at 197 for this years survey, a significant drop from a year ago when it was eleven spots higher.
Williams Lake which has been in the news of late for a range of issues edged up above Prince Rupert at 195 for the year, while Prince George, the largest community in Northern British Columbia was placed at 127.
Terrace, the only other community in the Northwest that is included in the overview found some upward momentum for 2016, jumping six placements to grab the number 116 spot. It's success mainly attributed to housing and taxation notes.
As for the data on Prince Rupert collected by the magazine and the comparisons with other communities, MoneySense still finds a few things attractive on the North Coast, the majority of them familiar themes from past surveys.
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| Prince Rupert scored well in three categories in the 2016 MoneySense Survey (click to expand) |
As you prepare to head off to pay your annual property tax bill for the year, take note that the Property taxes in Prince Rupert once again get a thumbs up of approval from the magazine, as the City makes it into the top ten overall when looking at the tax load.
When it comes to other key positives, MoneySense cites the compact nature of the city and the ease of travel to get around it whether by foot, bike or using transit, placing it in the rankings of the top 25 percent in the country .
One other category where Prince Rupert claimed a top 25 percent placement focused on real estate.
Where MoneySense made note of the affordability of properties that are listed for sale in the community.
The Average Value of Primary Real Estate is listed at $242,223, with 73 percent of the area's residents noted as owning their own home.
However, we drop down out of the top 25 when it comes to affordable rent. That is an area where the city doesn't fare quite so well when stacked up against other Canadian communities, with Prince Rupert listed at having a Rent to Income ratio of 11.5%.
Some of the other indicators that they make note of however left us a little short of other locations:
Listing the population at 13,150 they note offer up an interpretation of a slight decline from a year ago when they had the total listed at 13,184
The city's unemployment rate of 11.5 percent.
Crime statistics which show some declines in categories from last year, though the Crime Severity index edged up slightly.
The median household income is marked at 69,473.
16.3 percent of the area's residents are travelling around in a vehicle from 2013 or later, while less than half of one percent are making their daily drive in a luxury vehicle.
And as always, the weather makes for a major conversation piece for the magazine, making note of an average of 2,530.35 mm of precipitation per year, with 243 days of the year marked off on the calendar as rain days.
We do get marks for our days when the temperature doesn't drop below 0, with 285 days above the freezing mark, though sun seekers won't find much comfort from the number of days when the mercury gets above 24, which is listed a 0.
You an review the full chart below:
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| The MoneySense survey for 2016 has Prince Rupert edging up the listing by one spot compared to the 2015 review (click to expand) |
A look at the methodology of the survey can be found here, MoneySense columnists and editors use a mixture of economic and social factors, as well as weather, access to doctors and issues of crime to determine the list from 1 to 219.
The total number of communities grew by eight for 2016, providing more competition for the two Northwest cities as the magazine expands its annual list. Whistler marked the newest British Columbia entry in the yearly review.
Other segments of the annual survey include the Nation's Richest cities, Best Places to Raise Kids, Best Places to Retire and Best Places for new Canadians.
The full list of each community surveyed for the 2016 edition of the survey can be found here, click on the city name to expand the overview to learn more.
You can compare the Prince Rupert results from this year with those of the past from our archive pages found below:
2015
2014
2013
2012
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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