B4A vs B4B

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 B4A and B4B, 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	B4A	B4B	Canada	Difference
Median household income	$98,000	$116,000	$84,000	B4A is 16% lower than B4B
Median after-tax income	$82,000	$95,000	$73,000	B4A is 14% lower than B4B
Median age	43.2	40.4	41.6	B4A is 7% higher than B4B
Unemployment rate	12.1%	8.5%	10.3%	B4A is 42% higher than B4B
Low income (LIM-AT)	9.3%	8.3%	11.1%	B4A is 12% higher than B4B
Average household size	2.5	2.7	2.4	B4A is 7% lower than B4B

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	B4A	B4B
Median household income	21% higher than Halifax	43% higher than Halifax
Median after-tax income	18% higher than Halifax	37% higher than Halifax
Median age	7% higher than Halifax	about the same as Halifax
Unemployment rate	6% higher than Halifax	25% lower than Halifax
Low income (LIM-AT)	22% lower than Halifax	31% lower than Halifax
Average household size	9% higher than Halifax	17% higher than Halifax

B4A is measured against Halifax, the metropolitan area holding 100% of its residents.
B4B 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	B4A	B4B
Province	Nova Scotia	Nova Scotia
Population	18,541	19,570
Private dwellings	7,719	7,566
Land area	20 km²	163 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	B4A	B4B
Grocery store	1 km walk	81%	50%
Public transit	1 km walk	89%	59%
Park	1 km walk	100%	85%
Pharmacy	1 km walk	49%	3%
Child care	1.5 km walk	100%	60%
Primary school	1.5 km walk	66%	8%
Secondary school	1.5 km walk	38%	24%
Library	1.5 km walk	17%	0%
Health care	3 km drive	100%	100%
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	B4A	B4B
Studio	not published	$1,173
1 bedroom	$1,335	$1,719
2 bedrooms	$1,910	$2,202
3+ bedrooms	$2,167	$2,779

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	B4A	B4B
Nearest AQHI station	Halifax Downtown · 10 km	Halifax Downtown · 15 km
Current reading	1.93 — Low risk	1.93 — Low risk
Reporting facilities within 10 km	28	22
Reported releases to air	6,328 t	5,404 t

B4A: Measured at Halifax Downtown, 10 km from B4A. The index runs from 1 upward and combines ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide into one health-risk scale.
B4B: Measured at Halifax Downtown, 15 km from B4B. 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.

B4A in full · B4B 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.