B3A vs B4E

Nova Scotia

This page does not pick a winner. Every row shows two measurements and the gap between them. There is no score, no tally of which area “wins” more categories, and no overall result — those would be a rating of two places and the people who live in them, assembled by the layout.

Both areas are forward sortation areas, and every figure describes the whole of one. Crime is not shown here: it is reported at the metropolitan level, so for two areas in the same city it is usually the same number twice. It is on each area’s own page, with the geography it describes.

Selected 2021 Census figures for B3A and B4E, with the national figure for scale. The last column states the gap between the two areas as a direction and a size, never as a preference.
Measure	B3A	B4E	Canada	Difference
Median household income	$58,000	$97,000	$84,000	B3A is 40% lower than B4E
Median after-tax income	$50,800	$82,000	$73,000	B3A is 38% lower than B4E
Median age	40.8	40	41.6	B3A is about the same as B4E
Unemployment rate	12.7%	7.9%	10.3%	B3A is 61% higher than B4E
Low income (LIM-AT)	18.3%	7.3%	11.1%	B3A is 2.5× higher than B4E
Average household size	1.9	2.6	2.4	B3A is 27% lower than B4E

How each area sits against the city or province around it — a different geography on each side, named in every cell. Read down a column, not across: the two columns are measured against different places and a bigger gap in one says nothing about the other.
Measure	B3A	B4E
Median household income	28% lower than Halifax	20% higher than Halifax
Median after-tax income	27% lower than Halifax	18% higher than Halifax
Median age	about the same as Halifax	about the same as Halifax
Unemployment rate	11% higher than Halifax	31% lower than Halifax
Low income (LIM-AT)	53% higher than Halifax	39% lower than Halifax
Average household size	17% lower than Halifax	13% higher than Halifax

B3A is measured against Halifax, the metropolitan area holding 100% of its residents.
B4E is measured against Halifax, the metropolitan area holding 100% of its residents.

Counts for each area. These describe the place and are not compared as ratios.
Measure	B3A	B4E
Province	Nova Scotia	Nova Scotia
Population	21,857	19,718
Private dwellings	11,978	7,752
Land area	25 km²	41 km²

Share of each area’s residents with an amenity within reach, weighted by where people live. A blank is a coverage fact, not a zero.
Amenity	Within	B3A	B4E
Grocery store	1 km walk	82%	62%
Public transit	1 km walk	95%	81%
Park	1 km walk	99%	79%
Pharmacy	1 km walk	29%	7%
Child care	1.5 km walk	94%	92%
Primary school	1.5 km walk	83%	59%
Secondary school	1.5 km walk	62%	36%
Library	1.5 km walk	37%	0%
Health care	3 km drive	100%	99%
Employment	10 km drive	100%	100%

These measure how close an amenity is, never its quality. A school 500 m away is a school 500 m away — nothing here says anything about the school itself.
The proximity index is scaled against all of Canada, where 1 is the single most well-served block in the country and the national average is close to zero. It is useful for comparing places and misleading as a score.

What tenants pay, from CMHC’s survey of purpose-built rental buildings. The two areas may sit in different survey zones, or one may not be surveyed at all — that is a coverage fact and is stated rather than left blank.
Unit	B3A	B4E
Studio	$1,097	$1,173
1 bedroom	$1,276	$1,647
2 bedrooms	$1,655	$1,974
3+ bedrooms	$2,204	$2,361

Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey, October 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation of this product.

The air quality index is a reading at the nearest station, which may be far away — the distance is shown because it decides whether the reading describes the area at all. Facility counts are reported releases within 10 km.
Measure	B3A	B4E
Nearest AQHI station	Halifax Downtown · 3.9 km	Halifax Downtown · 19 km
Current reading	1.13 — Low risk	1.13 — Low risk
Reporting facilities within 10 km	31	10
Reported releases to air	6,331 t	69 t

B3A: Measured at Halifax Downtown, 3.9 km from B3A. The index runs from 1 upward and combines ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide into one health-risk scale.
B4E: Measured at Halifax Downtown, 19 km from B4E. The index runs from 1 upward and combines ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide into one health-risk scale.

This page carries the figures the two areas can be set against each other on. Each area’s own page has the rest — including crime, the boundary map, and every source note and caveat in full.

B3A in full · B4E in full

Source: Census Profile, 2021 Census (98-401-X). Data current as of 2026-08-12. Statistics Canada Open Licence. Each figure describes a whole forward sortation area. Amenity, rent and air figures carry their own sources and vintages on the area pages.