Chilliwack is not one market. Median household income runs from $55,600 in Chilliwack Proper to $101,000 in Little Mountain. Median age spans 36.0 in Promontory and 51.2 in Sardis. Rosedale is 98% detached houses; Chilliwack Proper is only 38%.
Those numbers come from the city’s own neighbourhood profiles, not from a listings site, and they tell you more about how an area actually lives than any ranked list. What follows compares all twelve.
Quick picks
- Young families buying a first detached home: Promontory
- Downsizing, or wanting an apartment with amenities nearby: Sardis
- Walkable and cheapest to enter: Chilliwack Proper
- Established, quiet, mostly houses, close to town: Fairfield Island
- New-build townhouse near trails and the university: Vedder, including Garrison Crossing
- Acreage and farmland: Greendale, Rosedale, Yarrow
- Highest incomes, smallest area: Little Mountain
How this is built
Figures are from the City of Chilliwack’s CityWide Neighbourhood Profiles, prepared by CitySpaces Consulting and updated in April 2024 on 2021 census data. No other official per-neighbourhood dataset exists for the city. Census-based figures are five years old, so treat them as structural rather than current: the relative differences between areas hold even where absolute dollars have moved. School ratings are from the Fraser Institute’s 2026 report card. Last verified 17 September 2026.
All twelve neighbourhoods, side by side
| Neighbourhood | Population | Median age | Detached / townhouse / apartment | Own / rent | Median household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilliwack Proper | 31,410 | 40.8 | 38% / 41% / 21% | 58% / 42% | $55,600 |
| Vedder | 22,620 | 42.8 | 60% / 32% / 8% | 80% / 20% | $71,000 |
| Promontory | 11,820 | 36.0 | 56% / 41% / 3% | 84% / 16% | $88,000 |
| Sardis | 10,010 | 51.2 | 52% / 20% / 28% | 78% / 22% | $94,000 |
| Rosedale | 5,700 | 36.4 | 98% detached | 76% / 24% | $78,000 |
| Fairfield Island | 4,220 | 40.4 | 95% / 4% / 1% | 83% / 17% | $80,000 |
| Yarrow | 3,380 | 38.4 | 91% detached | 89% / 11% | $88,000 |
| Greendale | 3,110 | 37.2 | 94% detached | 75% / 25% | $79,500 |
| Little Mountain | 1,170 | 45.6 | 92% / 8% / 0% | 86% / 14% | $101,000 |
| Chilliwack West, Ryder Lake, Eastern Hillsides | n/a | n/a | rural and hillside | n/a | n/a |
| City-wide | 100,690 | 40.8 | 58% / 23% / 20% | 76% / 24% | n/a |
Source: City of Chilliwack CityWide Neighbourhood Profiles, April 2024, on 2021 census data.
A note on names before the detail. Garrison Crossing, the redeveloped former Canadian Forces Base land, is one of the most searched Chilliwack place names and is not a separate neighbourhood in the city’s framework; it falls inside Vedder. Five Corners, the downtown intersection, sits inside Chilliwack Proper. Both names are used below where useful, with the official area noted.
The urban neighbourhoods
Promontory
The youngest part of the city by a clear margin, with a median age of 36.0 and the highest ownership rate at 84%. Housing is split between detached homes and townhouses, with almost no apartments, which is what you would expect from a hillside built out largely in the last two decades.
Suits: families buying their first detached house or a newer townhouse.
Watch for: it is a hillside. Grades are steep, winter mornings ice up, and some driveways are hard for a full-size moving truck. A second elementary school has been proposed here under the district’s ten-year plan, which tells you how many young families have arrived.
Vedder, including Vedder Crossing and Garrison Crossing
The second-largest area at 22,620 people, and where much of Chilliwack’s newer townhouse stock sits: 32% of dwellings, against 23% city-wide. The neighbourhood was built on the former CFB Chilliwack site, redeveloped through the 2000s, and it reads differently from the rest of the city, with narrower streets, lanes and a small commercial node at Marketplace at Garrison.
The Vedder Rotary Loop trail runs along the river here, more than 20 km of nearly level gravel path, and the University of the Fraser Valley’s Chilliwack campus and trades centre sit on adjacent former base land at Canada Education Park.
Suits: anyone wanting a newer home with walkable trails, and students or staff at UFV.
Watch for: Vedder Middle School was at 112% of capacity in late 2025.
Sardis
The oldest area by median age at 51.2, and the most apartment-heavy outside the downtown at 28%. That combination makes it the obvious choice for downsizing, and its median household income is the highest of the large neighbourhoods at $94,000.
Suits: downsizers, and buyers who want an apartment or townhouse with shops close by.
Watch for: Sardis Secondary was at 125% of capacity, though a 400-seat expansion has been under way since 2023.
Chilliwack Proper, including downtown and Five Corners
Nearly a third of the city lives here, and it is the most urban part by a distance: only 38% detached, 21% apartments, and 42% of households renting against 24% city-wide. It also has the lowest median household income of any profiled neighbourhood at $55,600.
This is where Chilliwack is changing fastest. The Downtown Neighbourhood Plan was updated in 2025 alongside the new Official Community Plan, and the city’s own planning documents describe the Alder area as shifting toward mixed-use and apartment development.
Suits: renters, first-time buyers, and anyone who wants to walk to things.
Watch for: the cheapest entry point in the city comes with the density and the visible street issues that go with a downtown core. Walk it at different times of day before committing.
Fairfield Island
Small, established and almost entirely houses at 95% detached, with 83% ownership and a median household income of $80,000. Sits just north of the downtown between the river and the highway.
Suits: buyers who want a detached house on a settled street without going rural.
Watch for: it is floodplain. The dike system is what keeps it dry, so check the flood designation and insurance for the specific address.
Little Mountain
The smallest profiled neighbourhood at 1,170 people and the wealthiest by median household income at $101,000. Older, at a median age of 45.6, and 92% detached.
Suits: buyers looking for an established detached home and little turnover.
Watch for: very little comes up for sale.
The rural neighbourhoods
Greendale (3,110 people, 94% detached) sits on former Sumas Lake bed, drained in the 1920s, and is farmland. Its elementary school is the highest-rated public school in Chilliwack on the 2026 Fraser Institute report card.
Yarrow (3,380, 91% detached, 89% ownership) was settled by Mennonite families from the late 1920s and retains a distinct small-town centre. Its ownership rate is the highest in the city.
Rosedale (5,700, 98% detached) is the most uniformly single-family area in Chilliwack, on the north side toward Agassiz.
Chilliwack West, Ryder Lake and Eastern Hillsides are the rural and hillside edges. Ryder Lake is a small sub-alpine farming community; Eastern Hillsides is covered by its own area plan.
Suits: buyers who want land, and who are comfortable driving for everything.
Watch for: the agricultural land reserve limits what can be built or subdivided, well and septic systems instead of city services, and longer response times for everything from delivery to emergency services.
Schools by rating
The Fraser Institute’s 2026 elementary report card, published 3 September 2026 on 2024/25 results, rates Chilliwack schools as follows out of 10:
| School | Rating | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Timothy Christian | 8.4 | Independent |
| Cascade Christian | 7.9 | Independent |
| Unity Christian | 7.5 | Independent |
| Highroad Academy | 7.5 | Independent |
| Greendale Community | 7.5 | Public |
| Cheam | 7.2 | Public |
| Yarrow Community | 7.2 | Public |
| Unsworth | 6.6 | Public |
| East Chilliwack | 6.6 | Public |
| Vedder | 6.3 | Public |
| Strathcona | 6.3 | Public |
| Sardis | 6.2 | Public |
| Evans | 6.1 | Public |
| Tyson | 5.9 | Public |
| Promontory Heights | 5.8 | Public |
| Watson | 5.7 | Public |
| Robertson | 5.7 | Public |
| McCammon | 5.6 | Public |
| Bernard | 5.2 | Public |
| Leary Integrated Arts and Technology | 4.6 | Public |
| Chilliwack Central | 3.9 | Public |
Two cautions on using this table to pick a neighbourhood. There are no current secondary school ratings for any BC school, because the Fraser Institute suspended that report card after 2021/22 data, so ignore any secondary “score” you find quoted. And a good rating is no use if the school is full: the district ran at 103% of functional capacity in November 2025, with Cheam Elementary at 217% of its design capacity.
School District 33 publishes a school locator rather than static catchment maps, and boundaries are under active review, so confirm the catchment for a specific address with the district rather than assuming from the neighbourhood.
Getting around, and what sits where
Cottonwood Centre, open since 1974 with 60-plus stores by the mall’s own count, and Eagle Landing serve the west side near Vedder and Luckakuck. Garrison Village serves Garrison Crossing. Downtown Chilliwack carries the independent shops and the civic buildings.
For recreation, Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre is downtown, with a wave pool and an eight-lane competition pool. The Coliseum, seating 5,000, is on Young Road. Cultus Lake is 11 km southwest of the city and Chilliwack Lake about 64 km east.
Local BC Transit fares are $2.50 for a single adult ride and $53 for a 30-day pass. Fraser Valley Express fares to Abbotsford, Carvolth and Lougheed run $5 a ride or $100 monthly. Over 91% of commuting trips in the city are made by car on 2016 census data, so most households here run one regardless of neighbourhood.
Safety by neighbourhood
No official body publishes crime data for individual Chilliwack neighbourhoods. Not Statistics Canada, which reports at metropolitan level, and not the city, whose neighbourhood profiles carry no crime data at all. Sites that score neighbourhoods on crime are modelling it rather than measuring it.
The city does publish an interactive map of reported incidents by category, which lets you look at specific blocks, and we go through what the city-wide figures do and do not show in our look at Chilliwack’s crime numbers.
Before you choose
Run the numbers on the area, not the city. Our cost of living breakdown has current prices, rents and the 2026 tax increase, and our wider read on living here covers the commute, the schools and the flood picture that cut across every neighbourhood.
When you have picked a street, the practical question is access. Promontory’s grades, the narrow lanes in Garrison Crossing and the long rural driveways in Greendale and Rosedale each change what size truck can get close to the door. Our Chilliwack movers know these streets and will tell you before the day rather than on it. We work across the valley as a Vancouver moving company.
If you are buying with an agent, mention the move to them early. A lot of realtors refer their clients to us so the truck is booked around completion and possession rather than squeezed in afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best neighbourhood in Chilliwack for families?
Promontory on the numbers: the youngest median age in the city at 36.0, 84% owner-occupied, and a mix of detached homes and townhouses. Vedder, which includes Garrison Crossing, is the alternative if you prefer newer townhouses near trails. Check school capacity before committing, since several local schools are over their design limits.
What is the most affordable neighbourhood in Chilliwack?
Chilliwack Proper, which includes the downtown. It has the lowest median household income at $55,600, the highest share of renters at 42%, and the most apartments outside Sardis. It is also the city’s densest area and the one where the downtown’s street-level issues are most visible, so walk it before deciding.
Is Garrison Crossing a good place to live?
The area is the most distinctive newer part of Chilliwack, built on the former Canadian Forces Base and redeveloped through the 2000s, with lanes, townhouses and a small commercial centre at Marketplace at Garrison. Chilliwack counts it within the Vedder neighbourhood rather than as its own area, so official figures for that name specifically do not exist.
Which Chilliwack neighbourhood has the best schools?
Greendale Community is the highest-rated public elementary in the city at 7.5 out of 10 on the Fraser Institute’s 2026 report card, with Cheam and Yarrow Community at 7.2. No current secondary school ratings exist for BC. Capacity matters as much as rating here, with the district at 103% overall in November 2025.
Where do the wealthiest areas of Chilliwack sit?
Little Mountain has the highest median household income at $101,000, though it is also the smallest profiled neighbourhood at 1,170 residents. Sardis is the highest among the larger neighbourhoods at $94,000, with Promontory and Yarrow at $88,000.
