A recent report from Zoocasa takes a lighthearted look at the affordability of Canadian housing markets by comparing them to the salaries of professional baseball players. The analysis focuses on the lowest-paid members of the Toronto Blue Jays roster and examines how much of their annual income would remain after purchasing an average-priced home in various cities across the country.
Player Salaries vs. Home Prices
Rookie relief pitcher Adam Macko, who played high school baseball in Alberta, earns the league minimum of $1,076,000 CAD annually. According to the report, if Macko were to put his entire pre-tax salary toward a home, he would fall $21,600 short of buying an average-priced home in Vancouver, which costs $1,098,000. In Toronto, however, he would have $132,300 left after purchasing a home priced at $944,100. In Calgary, the average home costs $570,600, leaving Macko with nearly $506,000 in change. The most affordable market analyzed was Saint John, New Brunswick, where the average home price is $318,200, allowing Macko to have $758,200 left over.
Context from the Blue Jays Roster
Zoocasa’s report also highlighted the housing struggles of former Blue Jays rookie Addison Barger, who often slept on teammates’ pullout beds last season. At the other end of the spectrum, the team’s highest-paid player, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., earns over $55 million CAD annually. Together with the three other highest-paid Blue Jays, their combined pre-tax income exceeds $155 million, enough to purchase 111 average-priced single-family detached homes in Toronto, where the average price was about $1.4 million in April.
For comparison, the average Canadian household earns approximately $100,000 per year, according to Zoocesa. The report underscores the vast disparity between professional athletes’ earnings and the financial reality for most Canadians, while also highlighting the extreme variation in housing costs across the country.
