Updated April 2026 · U.S. Census Bureau, fiscal year 2023
Where Does New Bedford, MA Get Its Money?
New Bedford, MA took in $2.4B in total revenue, or $23,972 per resident. Its largest single source is Intergovernmental Transfers at $752.7M, followed by Other at $413.1M. Per the U.S. Census Bureau, the balance comes from a mix of taxes, intergovernmental transfers, and user charges.
New Bedford, MA Budget Snapshot
| Total Spending | $5.0B |
| Per Capita Spending | $49,215 |
| Total Revenue | $2.4B |
| Total Debt | $50.9M |
| Debt Per Capita | $506 |
| Population | 100,620 |
| Fiscal Health Score | 49/100 (D) |
| Data Year | FY 2023 |
Where New Bedford, MA's Money Comes From
Where does the money come from? Property tax provides 0 percent of city revenue, sales tax 1 percent, intergovernmental transfers from federal and state sources 31 percent, and direct charges and user fees 8 percent. The remainder comes from utility revenue, income tax (where applicable), and miscellaneous sources.
Where the Money Goes
Of the $5.0B that New Bedford, MA spent in its most recent reported fiscal year, the largest single line item per resident is Education at $31,923. Highways & Roads comes next at $886 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, New Bedford sits close to the peer median for cities its size: $506 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 D Grade Mean?
New Bedford, MA earns a D on the CitySpend Fiscal Health Score (49/100). Multiple stress indicators, debt burden, pension underfunding, or a recent run of operating deficits, are flashing. Bond raters and state oversight officials typically pay closer attention to D-grade cities.
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 New Bedford, MA
New Bedford, MA took in $2.4B in total revenue, or $23,972 per resident. Its largest single source is Intergovernmental Transfers at $752.7M, followed by Other at $413.1M. 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.