A recently published ranking of hundreds of Canadian communities features many of B.C.'s best spots to live, but noticeably absent from the top 100 is the province's most populous city.
Vancouver ranked 112th out of 415 communities coast to coast in the system used by Macleans.
The city scored high in amenities, commute and culture, but the average housing cost makes it significantly less affordable than most of the regions ranked higher.
Just looking at B.C., Vancouver was 26th in the province.
Salmon Arm is B.C.'s best
The magazine included 60 B.C. communities in its annual list, and of the options, Salmon Arm came out on top.
In part due to its taxes as a percentage of income, the city in B.C.'s Southern Interior ranked sixth in the entire country. It also scored points for economy and demographics – meaning there's been recent growth in the labour market, and its population has grown at a relatively fast pace in the last five years.
"If you love B.C.'s weather, water and mountains but can't stomach the housing prices anywhere near the Vancouver area, the average primary residence in Salmon Arm is just $429,000," Macleans wrote.
West Kelowna also did well, partially because of its balmy temperatures and sunny skies.
Nelson has Canada's 14th lowest annual property tax bill, at an average of $1,141 or 1.3 per cent of annual incomes.
The lowest ranked in the province was the City of Langley, though Dawson Creek and Williams Lake also placed between 300 and 400.
Many of the top spots in B.C. are on Vancouver Island, with Oak Bay scoring highest of those. Victoria did worse than Vancouver, coming in 121st overall.
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Read more about how the Island fared on CTVNewsVancouverIsland.ca.
Top in Canada
Of major Canadian cities, Ottawa is the only one in the top 10, scoring high marks for amenities, commute and health.
Salmon Arm is the only community not in Ontario, with the Toronto suburb of Burlington coming in first overall.
The other Ontario places rounding out the top 10 are: Grimsby, Oakville, New Tecumseth, Brant, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Russell and Tecumseh.
Looking at provincial capitals, Edmonton came in 79th, Regina in 74th, Winnipeg in 251st and Toronto in 19th. Heading east, Fredericton was in 244th, Halifax was in 131st, Charlottetown in 233rd and St. John's in 262nd.
Quebec City wasn't on the list, and Montreal was also excluded, but the suburbs of Deux-Montagnes and Blainville fared best for the province at 48th and 51st.
B.C. communities that made the list
Below is a list of the B.C. communities in the top 415:
- 6th place: Salmon Arm
- 12th: West Kelowna
- 15th: Oak Bay
- 18th: Nelson
- 25th: Colwood
- 26th: North Saanich
- 29th: Central Saanich
- 30th: Squamish
- 32nd: Saanich
- 35th: Terrace
- 38th: Langford
- 39th: Kelowna
- 42nd: West Vancouver
- 46th: Prince Rupert
- 49th: Summerland
- 50th: Sidney
- 52nd: Cranbrook
- 57th: Kamloops
- 59th: Delta
- 62nd: Vernon
- 63rd: Coldstream
- 72nd: Lake Country
- 75th: North Vancouver (city)
- 76th: Whistler
- 103rd: Comox
- 112th: Vancouver
- 119th: Port Moody
- 121st: Victoria
- 130th: Salt Spring Island
- 134th: Penticton
- 140th: Surrey
- 142nd: Coquitlam
- 157th: Powell River
- 159th: Esquimalt
- 160th: Pitt Meadows
- 162nd: New Westminster
- 168th: North Vancouver (district)
- 173rd: Richmond
- 175th: Burnaby
- 178th: Quesnel
- 180th: Courtenay
- 184th: Sooke
- 189th: Abbotsford
- 191st: Prince George
- 192nd: Maple Ridge
- 194th: Nanaimo
- 201st: Langley (township)
- 209th: Campbell River
- 210th: Parksville
- 214th: Port Coquitlam
- 216th: Fort St. John
- 229th: Greater Vancouver
- 236th: White Rock
- 245th: Chilliwack
- 248th: North Cowichan
- 263rd: Mission
- 273rd: Port Alberni
- 324th: Williams Lake
- 349th: Dawson Creek
- 366th: Langley (city)
The full list, which includes 415 municipalities across Canada, is available online. It's an interactive tool, where users can set their own weightings, choosing, for example, that low taxes are more important to them than length of commute, or that affordability is more of a priority than crime rate.
Users can also filter the results based on which communities are best for families, retirees, warm weather lovers or those looking for affordable housing.
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With files from CTV News Vancouver Island
