Cities / Vancouver

Inner city · Central, Vancouver

Strathcona

Oldest residential neighbourhood, next to Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside

  • Creatives
  • Renters
  • Value-seekers

At a glance

A small, older neighbourhood east of downtown with character houses, low-rise apartments and community gardens. It sits beside Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside. About 78% of households rent and 80% of homes are apartments (6% are detached houses). The median assessed value is $1.20M across all residential property, or $849K for strata (condo and townhouse) units. Police data shows crime well above the city median per resident.

Median assessed home
$1.20M
2026 assessment · city $1.42M
Residents
14,180
estimate for mid-2025, up from 13,235 at the 2021 census
Households renting
78%
city 54%
Permits per year
107
2021–2025 average

What the numbers mean

  • The median assessed home is $1.20M, 15% below the Vancouver median of $1.42M.
  • 78% of households rent, well above the 54% city-wide, so expect a younger, more mobile mix of neighbours.
  • 80% of homes are apartments (62% city-wide), so a condo is the usual way in. The median condo or townhouse is assessed at $849K.
  • Building activity is in line with the city as a whole, at about 107 permits a year.

Who lives here

Share of residents by age, estimate for mid-2025, up from 13,235 at the 2021 census.

0-128%
13-249%
25-3418%
35-4417%
45-5413%
55-6415%
65-7411%
75-845%
85+4%

Homes

Share of homes by type, estimate for mid-2025, up from 13,235 at the 2021 census.

Single-detached6%
Duplex6%
Row house8%
Apartment under 5 storeys41%
Apartment 5+ storeys39%

Daily errands on foot1

Places within the neighbourhood or a 5-minute walk of its edge, compared with the typical neighbourhood in Vancouver.

Supermarkets
6
city median 9
Cafés and bakeries
60
city median 37
Pharmacies and clinics
29
city median 16
Playgrounds and dog parks
44
city median 38

Estimated property tax2

What owning here costs each year in property tax at the median assessed value. Renters don’t pay it directly, but landlords pass it on.

Median home
$4,050 a year
about $335 a month on a $1.20M assessment

Upfront closing costs3

BC charges a tiered property transfer tax: 1% on the first $200,000, 2% to $2 million, then 3%, and 5% above $3 million. Government fees at the median home price:

BC property transfer tax
$22,060
on $1.20M

Typical apartment rent nearby4

Strathcona sits in CMHC's East Hastings survey zone. October 2025 average rent of purpose-built rental apartments in that zone:

Studio
$1,689
+$22 vs metro average
1 bedroom
$1,692
−$115 vs metro average
2 bedroom
$2,323
−$41 vs metro average
3 bedroom or more
$2,608
−$212 vs metro average

How it's changing

Building permits issued each year, a leading signal of new homes and renovations.

*2026 is year to date.

Safety5

Reported incidents in the last 12 months (October 2025 to September 2026), per 1,000 residents, compared with the median of 22 Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Reported crime
85.5
per 1,000 · above the 10.9 median
Violent crime
34.2
per 1,000 · median 1.9
Property crime
51.3
per 1,000 · median 8.8
  • Reported crime runs about 7.8× the median Vancouver neighbourhood: 85.5 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, versus 10.9.
  • The most common reported crime is violent offences, 40% of the total. 60% of incidents are property crime.
  • Crime has fallen since 2020: 1,032 reported incidents in 2025 versus 1,630 in 2020.
  • So far in 2026 (January to September) there have been 863 incidents, 13% more than the same months of 2025.
  • Busy main streets, transit and nightlife bring in visitors, and incidents are counted where they happen, not where people live.

What gets reported

Top crime types in the rate, same period.

Violent offences40%
Theft from vehicles38%
Break-in: business10%
Break-in: home or other8%
Vehicle theft4%

Other reported incidents

Counted by police but left out of the rate, same period.

Other theft (incl. shoplifting)
855
Mischief and vandalism
647
Bicycle theft
54

Reported crime by year

*2026 is year to date.

Sources and notes

  1. Source: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), counted October 19, 2026. Counts places inside the neighbourhood or within 400 m (about a 5-minute walk) of its edge, in a straight line. Volunteers map OpenStreetMap, so some places may be missing and counts are a guide, not a census. Supermarkets are tagged shop=supermarket; cafés amenity=cafe and shop=bakery; pharmacies and clinics amenity=pharmacy and amenity=clinic; playgrounds and dog parks leisure=playground and leisure=dog_park. Medians are across the neighbourhoods in this guide. ↩
  2. Source: City of Vancouver 2026 property tax rates report (Class 1 Residential). 2026 residential rate 0.3364% of assessed value (City 0.193406% + provincial school 0.098001% + TransLink 0.035893% + BC Assessment 0.003814% + Metro Vancouver 0.00526% + Municipal Finance Authority 0.00002%), applied to this community's median assessment. Homeowners pay tax on the assessed value, not the sale price. Excludes utility bills, local improvement charges, grants and credits, and anything above or below the median. ↩
  3. Source: Province of British Columbia, Property transfer tax. 2026 rules, applied to this community's median assessment. First-time buyer and newly built home exemptions are not deducted. Legal fees, title insurance, inspection and adjustments are extra. ↩
  4. Source: CMHC Rental Market Survey, Housing Market Information Portal. These are zone averages across all units in apartment buildings of three or more units, not a figure for Strathcona alone, and they are not asking rents. Houses, basement suites and condos rented out by owners are not included. Zones are large, so neighbouring communities can share one figure. ↩
  5. Source: Vancouver Police Department, GeoDASH open crime data (2020 to 2026). Rates use 2021 census population. Incidents are counted where they occur. Police services count crime differently, so compare with the local median rather than across cities. How we calculate this. ↩