Quebecers are among the poorest people in the country and the least likely to own their homes, according to Statistics Canada.
The median family income in Quebec, as reported in the 2010 census, is $68,000, while the nationwide average is $76,000.
The same survey shows that only 61 per cent of Quebecers are homeowners, compared to 69 per cent across Canada.
Quebecers have always been among the least likely to own their own homes, but the home ownership rate grew significantly from 1991 to 2006.
Incomes in Quebec are rising slower than the national average, growing just 5 per cent from 2006 to 2010, compared to a 6 per cent increase in Canada as a whole.
The only provinces with lower incomes are New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, where they average $65,000, while incomes in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are roughly equal to Quebec.
The richest Canadian families are in Alberta where the average household earns $93,000.
Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, at more than 77 per cent, are the most likely to own their own home, followed by New Brunswickers at 75 per cent.
That mortgage comes with a price. A full 82 per cent of homeowners are paying more than 30 per cent of their total income on their mortgage, which government economists consider risky.
On average Canadians spend $510 per month above the affordability index determined by the federal housing agency Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The CMHC has the same ceiling for rents, and residents of the Saguenay region have the most affordable rents in Canada, with just 19 per cent pay more than 30 per cent of their income on housing.
The least affordable rents are in Vancouver, where 33.5 pay more than the 'affordable' level.
Quebecers are also more likely to rely on employment insurance, with 2.4 per cent of household revenue coming from the federal out-of-work program, compared to 1.8 per cent for Canadians as a whole.
Statistics Canada made its analysis by examining the National Household Survey of 2011, which was not mandatory and so makes comparisons to prior statistics extraordinarily difficult.
For income levels it looked at households with two adults, with or without children, before income taxes were applied.
With a file from The Canadian Press
