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UNEMPLOY- MENT RATE (10%) BCBUSINESS.CA DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017 BCBUSINESS 27 T o evaluate B.C.'s Best Cities for Work, we looked at seven economic indica- tors, each weighted differently, that we believe reflect the health of a city's job market. Each statis- tic was divided and/or multiplied to come up with a score suitable to its weighting. Average household income This figure represents data from 2016. We took the raw number and divided it by 100,000, then multiplied by 15, to arrive at a maximum score out of 15. (15% of total score) Average household income under 35 This figure represents the average household income for household maintainers, or primary income earners, under the age of 35 in 2016. Again, the score is derived by taking the number and dividing by 100,000, then multiplying by 10, to get a maximum score out of 10. (10% of total score) Average household spending on recreation This measures a wide variety of "fun-related" household purchases identified by Statistics Canada–everything from movie tickets to TV set purchases to sending the kids to camp. For this score, we divided the average household spend in 2016 by 10,000 and multiplied by 10 to arrive at a score out of 10. (10% of total score) Average shelter (current consumption) costs This looks at what people spent on necessary living expenses– rent, mortgage payments, critical repairs–in 2016. It does not measure how much it costs to purchase a home, which is an investment and not an expense. To come up with our score, we took the average household income and divided it by current shelter costs, then multiplied that amount by two for a score out of 15. (15% of total score) Five-year population growth This figure represents data from 2011 to 2016. We present the actual percentage growth, with a floor of 0 and ceiling of 10, to arrive at a score out of 10. (10% of total score) Five-year average household income growth This figure represents data from 2011 to 2016. We present the actual percentage growth, with a floor of 0 and ceiling of 30, to arrive at a score out of 30. (30% of total score) Unemployment rate This figure uses the unemploy- ment rate from the September 2016 Labour Market Survey. We multiplied the community's unemployment rate by two, then subtracted that amount from 20 to arrive at a score out of 10. (10% of total score) COMMUNITY AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD INCOME (15%) AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD INCOME UNDER 35 (10%) AVERAGE HOUSE- HOLD SPENDING ON RECREATION (10%) AVERAGE SHELTER SPENDING (15%) FIVE-YEAR POPULATION GROWTH (10%) FIVE-YEAR INCOME GROWTH (30%) SQUAMISH $105,593 $80,260 $6,255 $23,635 11.77% 19.49% 5.30% FORT ST. JOHN $133,213 $113,806 $8,525 $21,758 7.93% 21.52% 9.40% DAWSON CREEK $101,411 $77,315 $6,443 $17,793 8.86% 21.77% 9.40% KELOWNA $95,976 $74,398 $6,982 $21,327 6.18% 21.60% 6.70% LANGLEY $106,579 $91,470 $6,242 $23,193 7.14% 14.68% 5.30% TERRACE $91,120 $74,059 $4,456 $13,712 1.37% 26.00% 7.80% PITT MEADOWS $102,709 $98,052 $5,965 $23,082 7.23% 14.30% 5.30% KAMLOOPS $98,653 $77,845 $7,172 $21,533 1.34% 23.57% 6.70% NORTH VANCOUVER $116,296 $92,369 $6,402 $24,625 5.87% 14.52% 5.30% DELTA $115,640 $96,747 $6,612 $24,362 5.43% 14.26% 5.30% PORT COQUITLAM $107,436 $87,810 $6,050 $23,536 6.29% 14.44% 5.30% MAPLE RIDGE $101,028 $83,964 $5,949 $22,432 6.59% 14.53% 5.30% The Best Cities Methodology TO COMPARE THIS YE AR'S R ANKING TO L AST YE AR'S, GO TO BCBUSINESS.CA / BESTCITIES Category weights shown in brackets. Full methodology below