Methodology
How neighbourhood scores work
Each metric is converted to a 0-100 score with fixed breakpoints (piecewise-linear, not relative to other neighbourhoods). Vancouver has its own scale: metrics whose typical level is set by the city (collisions per kilometre of road, transit service, parkland per resident, rent and home prices) are rescaled to Vancouver, and the rest share the reference breakpoints. Metrics are averaged into categories using the weights below, and categories into the overall score. Distances and shares are measured from where residents live (City of Vancouver address points, with each strata unit counted and rental buildings sized from the assessment roll), weighted by population.
Scoring model v2, updated 2026-10-11. Every number on this page is read from the same configuration file the data pipeline uses.
Overall score
The overall score is the weighted average of seven category scores. On the home page you can change these weights or pick a preset; category scores stay the same, only how they are combined changes.
Safety
25% of overallCrime near homes and serious traffic collisions.
Violent crime near homes · 50% of Safety · per 1,000 residents / yr, lower is better
Police-reported sexual offences, assaults, robbery, weapons offences and homicides, 2024-25, per 1,000 residents per year, counting incidents in residential areas in full and in mixed-use areas at half. VPD doesn't publish where violent incidents happen, so the at-home share comes from where mischief and vehicle and bicycle thefts happened in the neighbourhood. Residents are the 2021 Census population grown with BC Stats estimates and the homes built since. Small neighbourhoods are shrunk toward the city rate.
Source: Vancouver Police Department crime statistics by neighbourhood and GeoDASH open data; City of Vancouver zoning and property tax report
Property crime near homes · 30% of Safety · per 1,000 residents / yr, lower is better
Break-ins, theft of and from vehicles, other theft (including shoplifting and bicycles), arson and mischief (fraud excluded), 2024-25, per 1,000 residents per year, counting incidents in residential areas in full and in mixed-use areas at half, by the land use where VPD placed each incident. Shrunk toward the city rate.
Source: Vancouver Police Department crime statistics by neighbourhood and GeoDASH open data; City of Vancouver zoning and property tax report
Injury collisions on local roads · 20% of Safety · per 10 km of road / yr, lower is better
Police-reported injury and fatal collisions (2024 and 2025) per 10 km of non-freeway road per year. Fatal collisions count three times; VPD doesn't flag pedestrian or cyclist involvement, so those aren't weighted extra. Trans-Canada Highway collisions are excluded. Shrunk toward the city rate for short road networks.
Source: Vancouver Police Department GeoDASH open data; City of Vancouver Public streets
Vancouver scale: the reference breakpoints × 2.28, so a typical Vancouver neighbourhood (6.9) scores like a typical one in Ottawa (3.0).
Schools
15% of overallResults at the schools residents would most likely attend, and how far away they are.
Nearest elementary schools (FSA) · 45% of Schools · % meeting standard, higher is better
For each home, the 3-year average Foundation Skills Assessment result (Grades 4 and 7 reading and numeracy, % of writers On Track or Extending) of the nearest Vancouver School Board elementary school, averaged across residents. Where small numbers are masked the share is estimated from the school's published average score. About two in three Vancouver students write the FSA, and results also reflect family income, not only school quality.
Source: BC Ministry of Education Foundation Skills Assessment (2023-24 to 2025-26); BC Schools - K-12
Nearest high schools (Literacy 10 / Numeracy 10) · 20% of Schools · % meeting standard, higher is better
For each home, the 3-year average of Grade 10 Literacy and Numeracy Graduation Assessment results (% Proficient or Extending) at the nearest Vancouver School Board secondary school.
Source: BC Ministry of Education Graduation Assessments (2022-23 to 2024-25)
Distance to an elementary school · 35% of Schools · km, lower is better
Average straight-line distance from homes to the nearest public elementary school (Vancouver School Board, Conseil scolaire francophone, or Burnaby schools just across Boundary Road).
Source: BC Ministry of Education BC Schools - K-12
Amenities
15% of overallShare of residents who can reach everyday destinations nearby.
Grocery store within 1 km · 25% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 1 km (straight line) of a supermarket or full-service grocer.
Source: City of Vancouver business licences, categorized; OpenStreetMap just outside the city
Park within 400 m · 20% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 400 m of the edge of a Park Board park (including Stanley Park and beach parks).
Source: City of Vancouver Open Data (Parks, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation)
5+ places to eat within 800 m · 20% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents with at least five restaurants, cafes, bakeries or pubs within 800 m.
Source: City of Vancouver business licences, categorized; OpenStreetMap just outside the city
Recreation facility within 1.5 km · 15% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 1.5 km of a Park Board pool, arena, rink or community centre, or a public one just outside the city.
Source: City of Vancouver community centres and parks facilities; Vancouver Park Board
Distance to a library · 20% of Amenities · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest public library branch (VPL, or a Burnaby or Richmond branch residents can use free through InterLINK).
Source: Vancouver Public Library; OpenStreetMap
Getting Around
15% of overallFrequent transit, protected bike routes, and how far homes are from downtown jobs and highways.
Peak transit service near home · 35% of Getting Around · departures / hour, higher is better
Weekday 7-9 am departures per hour within 400 m (bus, RapidBus, B-Line) or 800 m (SkyTrain, SeaBus, West Coast Express), counting each route and direction once, averaged across residents. Stops just outside the city (Burnaby, Richmond, UBC) count.
Source: TransLink GTFS
Vancouver scale: the reference breakpoints × 3.61, so a typical Vancouver neighbourhood (45/hr) scores like a typical one in Ottawa (13/hr).
Distance to downtown · 25% of Getting Around · km, lower is better
Average straight-line distance from homes to downtown (Burrard and West Georgia), the city's largest employment centre.
Source: Computed from resident locations
Protected bike route within 400 m · 25% of Getting Around · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 400 m of a protected bike lane or off-street path (seawall, Arbutus Greenway, BC Parkway, Central Valley Greenway, other greenway paths). Painted lanes, shared lanes and local-street bikeways don't count.
Source: City of Vancouver Bikeways; OpenStreetMap (paths just outside the city)
Distance to a highway · 15% of Getting Around · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest freeway (Highway 1, 99, 91 or 17). Vancouver has almost none of its own, so most are in neighbouring municipalities.
Source: City of Vancouver Public streets; OpenStreetMap
Nature
10% of overallTree cover, nearby large greenspace, and parkland per resident.
Tree canopy · 35% of Nature · % coverage, higher is better
Share of land under tree canopy (2020, deciduous and coniferous trees from Metro Vancouver's 5 m land cover, rivers and ocean excluded). Vancouver's target is 30% by 2050.
Source: Metro Vancouver 2020 Tree Canopy Cover and Impervious Surface (by dissemination block)
Large greenspace within 1 km · 35% of Nature · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 1 km of a park or natural area of 4 ha or more of any ownership (City parks, Pacific Spirit Regional Park and UBC forest, Burnaby parks east of Boundary Road). Parks across the Fraser River or Burrard Inlet don't count.
Source: City of Vancouver Parks; OpenStreetMap
Parkland nearby per 1,000 residents · 30% of Nature · ha / 1,000 residents, higher is better
Hectares of Park Board parkland within 1 km of each home divided by the residents who share it. The Park Board's provision standard is 1.1 ha per 1,000 residents.
Source: City of Vancouver Open Data (Parks)
Vancouver scale: the reference breakpoints × 0.28, so a typical Vancouver neighbourhood (1.5) scores like a typical one in Ottawa (5.5).
Affordability
10% of overallTypical rent and home value, from one consistent source for every neighbourhood.
Typical rent · 50% of Affordability · $ / month, lower is better
2021 Census median monthly rent, scaled to today's market by one citywide factor (Rentals.ca average asking rent for Vancouver, September 2026, over the City of Vancouver's 2021 Census median: $2,741 / $1,570). Census figures are dissemination areas summed into local areas. Subsidized units pull a census median below what a new tenant would pay, so each neighbourhood's figure adds back $16.70 per percentage point of tenants in subsidized housing (the relationship across Vancouver's neighbourhoods), rebased so the citywide median is unchanged.
Source: Statistics Canada 2021 Census; Rentals.ca/Urbanation
Vancouver scale: the reference breakpoints × 1.37, so a typical Vancouver neighbourhood ($2,740) scores like a typical one in Ottawa ($2,000).
Typical home value · 50% of Affordability · $, lower is better
2021 Census median value of owned dwellings, scaled to today's market by the change in Greater Vancouver REALTORS' MLS HPI composite benchmark since May 2021 (Vancouver East +1.0%, Vancouver West -6.5%, weighted by owner households).
Source: Statistics Canada 2021 Census; Greater Vancouver REALTORS MLS HPI
Vancouver scale: the reference breakpoints × 2.22, so a typical Vancouver neighbourhood ($1,460,000) scores like a typical one in Ottawa ($659,000).
Health & Environment
10% of overallEmergency care, primary care, overdose burden and traffic noise.
Distance to an emergency department · 40% of Health & Environment · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest emergency department open 24/7 for adults, including Burnaby, Richmond and Lions Gate hospitals. Mount Saint Joseph and UBC Hospital (8 am to 8 pm), BC Children's and urgent and primary care centres don't count.
Source: OpenStreetMap; edwaittimes.ca
Overdose ED visits · 25% of Health & Environment · per 100K / yr, lower is better
Not available for Vancouver, so Health & Environment is scored from its other metrics.
Homes next to major roads · 20% of Health & Environment · % of homes, lower is better
Share of homes (each strata unit counted, rental buildings sized from the assessment roll) within 150 m of a freeway or 50 m of an arterial road, a standard proxy for traffic noise and air pollution exposure.
Source: City of Vancouver property tax report and address points; Public streets; OpenStreetMap
Distance to a family / walk-in clinic · 15% of Health & Environment · km, lower is better
Interim measure: average distance to the nearest family practice or walk-in clinic mapped in OpenStreetMap or licensed under a clinic name. Coverage is incomplete.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors; City of Vancouver business licences
Turning values into scores
Each metric is mapped to 0–100 with fixed breakpoints (shown beside each metric) and straight lines between them. Values beyond the first or last breakpoint get that breakpoint's score. Because the breakpoints are fixed, a neighbourhood's score only changes when its own data changes.
Each city has its own scale. Most metrics mean the same thing everywhere (a 500 m walk to a school, a test result, tree cover), so they share breakpoints. Metrics whose typical level is set by the city itself (collisions per kilometre of busy road, transit service, parkland per resident, rents and home prices, and overdoses, which cities count differently) are rescaled for each city: the breakpoints are multiplied by the city's median over Ottawa's, keeping the same curve. Scores compare neighbourhoods within a city, not across cities.
Counts of rare events (crime, collisions, overdoses) are noisy in small neighbourhoods. Rates are shrunk toward the city rate by adding 5,000 person-years (or 30 road-km-years for collisions) at the city average. This pulls small neighbourhoods toward the middle in both directions; large neighbourhoods barely move.
Missing data is never treated as zero. A category's score is the weighted average of the metrics that have data; if less than 70% of its weight has data, the category is left out of the overall score and the neighbourhood is flagged.
Score labels: Excellent (80+), Very good (75+), Good (65+), Fair (55+), Poor (0+). The thresholds are set so a label never contradicts a neighbourhood's tier (no “Very good” in the bottom half).
Rankings
Neighbourhoods with the same rounded score share a rank. Because reasonable people weigh categories differently, each neighbourhood also shows a likely rank range: the overall score is recomputed 500 times with every category weight multiplied by a random factor between 0.8 and 1.2, and the range covers the 10th to 90th percentile of the resulting ranks.
Tiers: Top 10%, Top 25%, Top half, Bottom half. A narrow range means the rank holds up under different weightings; a wide one means it depends on what you value.
- Balanced: The default weights. (Safety 25%, Schools 15%, Amenities 15%, Getting Around 15%, Nature 10%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 10%)
- Families: Schools, safety and parks first. (Safety 25%, Schools 25%, Amenities 10%, Getting Around 5%, Nature 15%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 10%)
- Car-free: Transit, walkable amenities and downtown access. (Safety 15%, Schools 5%, Amenities 25%, Getting Around 35%, Nature 5%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 5%)
- On a budget: Lower rent and home prices weigh most. (Safety 20%, Schools 10%, Amenities 10%, Getting Around 15%, Nature 5%, Affordability 35%, Health & Environment 5%)
- Retirees: Safety, health care and quiet nature. (Safety 25%, Amenities 20%, Getting Around 10%, Nature 15%, Affordability 5%, Health & Environment 25%)
Shown but not scored
These appear in each neighbourhood's breakdown for context but do not affect scores.
- All police-reported incidents
- Every incident in VPD's ten neighbourhood crime categories plus homicides, divided by residents. Inflated in areas with many visitors, so it is shown but not scored.
- Residents used for crime rates
- 2021 Census population grown by the dwellings added since (municipal address points), estimated for the crime data period, so fast-growing suburbs are not divided by an out-of-date population.
- Property incidents in commercial areas
- Property incidents VPD placed on blocks that are mostly business, industrial or institutional property, or in parks. Reflects visitor activity more than risk at home.
- Injury collisions
- Every police-reported injury or fatal collision. VPD doesn't publish property-damage-only collisions.
- Schools inside the boundary
- Count of schools located inside the neighbourhood polygon. Not scored, since children often attend schools just outside it.
- Workers commuting 60+ min
- 2021 Census. Collected during the pandemic, so shown for context only.
Known limitations
- Neighbourhoods are the City of Vancouver's 22 local areas. The City has not published 2021 profiles for them, so census figures are Statistics Canada's 2021 dissemination areas (a few hundred residents each) summed into local areas, each area going whole to the local area that holds most of its land. Median rent and home value are medians of the dissemination-area medians. Stanley Park has no residents and is in no local area, but it counts as a park for the homes near it.
- Resident locations come from City of Vancouver address points matched to the property tax roll: each strata unit is counted, houses include suites in proportion to the census dwelling types, purpose-built rental buildings are sized by assessed value and social housing by its published unit counts. Each local area's homes are calibrated to its 2021 Census households.
- Crime counts are the Vancouver Police Department's published neighbourhood crime statistics for 2024–25 (fraud excluded). The share that happened in residential areas comes from where VPD placed property incidents (residential zoning in full, mixed-use areas at half). VPD does not publish where violent incidents happen, so their share uses the neighbourhood's mischief and vehicle and bicycle thefts.
- Rates divide by the 2021 Census population grown with BC Stats estimates for the City of Vancouver, spread across local areas by the homes built since 2021.
- Vancouver has its own scale for metrics whose typical level depends on the city. Its streets have about 2.3 times Ottawa's injury collisions per kilometre, its transit runs about 3.6 times as often, it has about a quarter of Ottawa's parkland per resident and its homes are worth about 2.2 times as much, so those scales (and rent) are set from Vancouver's own neighbourhoods. Scores compare neighbourhoods within Vancouver.
- Collisions are VPD reports of injury and fatal collisions for 2024–25. VPD does not publish property-damage-only collisions or whether a pedestrian or cyclist was involved, so those are not weighted extra here.
- Overdoses are not scored for Vancouver: BC publishes them only for six health areas covering the whole city, too coarse to describe its neighbourhoods. Health & Environment uses the other three measures.
- School results are BC's Foundation Skills Assessment (Grades 4 and 7) and Grade 10 graduation assessments, not Ontario's EQAO, so they compare schools within Vancouver. BC masks small counts, so most schools' share On Track or Extending is estimated from their published average score (within about 4 points where both are known).
- Tree canopy is from Metro Vancouver's 2020 land cover (deciduous and coniferous trees; rivers and ocean excluded).
- Transit counts TransLink bus, SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express service on a weekday in October 2026, including stops just outside the city.
- Restaurants and grocery stores come from the City's business licences, with OpenStreetMap places just outside the city.
- Rent and home values are 2021 Census medians scaled by one citywide factor (Rentals.ca asking rents and the Greater Vancouver REALTORS benchmark price), so they rank neighbourhoods consistently but are not current asking prices. Census median rent is adjusted for the share of tenants in subsidized housing.
- Vancouver has no published Walk Score or Bike Score by local area. Walkability is a TopHoods index (0–100) of everyday places near home: a grocery store, the ten nearest places to eat, two cafés, a park, an elementary school and a library, each with full credit within 400 m, fading to none at 1.6 km. Bike route access is the share of residents within 400 m of a protected route.
- Distances are straight-line, not along streets or paths. Places across Burrard Inlet or the Fraser River are not counted as nearby.