Updated April 2026 · U.S. Census Bureau, fiscal year 2023
Where Does Flint, MI Get Its Money?
Flint, MI took in $2.4B in total revenue, or $28,972 per resident. Its largest single source is Intergovernmental Transfers at $2.4B, followed by Other at $360.4M. Per the U.S. Census Bureau, the balance comes from a mix of taxes, intergovernmental transfers, and user charges.
Flint, MI Budget Snapshot
| Total Spending | $5.3B |
| Per Capita Spending | $65,339 |
| Total Revenue | $2.4B |
| Total Debt | $287.9M |
| Debt Per Capita | $3,516 |
| Population | 81,863 |
| Fiscal Health Score | 24/100 (F) |
| Data Year | FY 2023 |
Where Flint, MI's Money Comes From
Where does the money come from? Property tax provides 0 percent of city revenue, sales tax 0 percent, intergovernmental transfers from federal and state sources 100 percent, and direct charges and user fees 14 percent. The remainder comes from utility revenue, income tax (where applicable), and miscellaneous sources.
Where the Money Goes
Of the $5.3B that Flint, MI spent in its most recent reported fiscal year, the largest single line item per resident is Fire Protection at $1,244. Parks & Recreation comes next at $63 per resident. Together those two functions account for the bulk of every-day taxpayer-facing services in the city budget. The remaining categories, parks, health, housing, debt service, and general administration, fill out the picture.
Top Spending Categories (Per Capita)
Debt Burden in Context
Debt-wise, Flint sits close to the peer median for cities its size: $3,516 per resident versus a peer-group median of $0. That tracks with normal capital-program borrowing for streets, water, and public buildings.
What Does the F Grade Mean?
Flint, MI earns an F on the CitySpend Fiscal Health Score (24/100), the most distressed tier in the dataset. Audited reports likely show going-concern language, escalating pension liabilities, or debt service crowding out core services. Treat the F grade as a screening signal to read the full Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
How This Score Is Calculated
The CitySpend Fiscal Health Score combines six factors into one composite, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances: budget balance and reserves (25%), debt burden per capita versus peer median (20%), pension funded ratio from the Public Plans Database (20%), spending efficiency (15%), revenue diversity (10%), and three-year trend direction (10%). Best-practice weighting follows guidance from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). Read the full methodology.
More about Flint, MI
Flint, MI took in $2.4B in total revenue, or $28,972 per resident. Its largest single source is Intergovernmental Transfers at $2.4B, followed by Other at $360.4M. Per the U.S. Census Bureau, the balance comes from a mix of taxes, intergovernmental transfers, and user charges.
This answer pulls from the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, the authoritative federal source for U.S. municipal and county government finances. The headline number above is the direct answer; what follows is the additional context most readers need to use the answer for a real decision rather than just a fact lookup.
A practical caveat: the headline answer above reflects the most recent the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances vintage; underlying data is often revised for months after first publication, and the right reference for any specific decision is whichever vintage is current at the time of the decision. The as-of date is stamped on every page.