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Data from U.S. Census Bureau · 2026 · Methodology
CitySpend

San Mateo, CA

Population: 104,165 (2022) · Mid-Size Cities (100K-250K)

C
62/100

Average fiscal health, some areas of concern

Total Spending
$19.3B
Per Capita
$185,341
Total Revenue
$13.2B
Total Debt
$0

Spending Breakdown

Other
45.3%$8.7B
General Administration
15.8%$3.1B
Utilities
14.4%$2.8B
Housing & Community Development
9.4%$1.8B
Police
6.1%$1.2B
Education
3.8%$735.0M
Fire Protection
2.2%$422.5M
Public Welfare
1.5%$284.5M
Parks & Recreation
1.1%$211.9M
Sewerage
0.3%$60.1M
Interest on Debt
0.1%$12.3M

Spending data sourced from the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances. Per-capita comparisons use the Lincoln Institute's Fiscally Standardized Cities methodology for fair cross-city benchmarking.

Revenue Sources

Property Tax
0.0%$1.0M
Sales Tax
0.2%$32.3M
Income Tax
0.2%$21.6M
Charges & Fees
0.0%$672K
Other
21.0%$2.8B

Per Capita Spending by Department

Police$11,237/person
Fire Protection$4,056/person
Parks & Recreation$2,035/person
Education$7,057/person

Score Breakdown

Budget Balance & Reserves (25%)46/100
Debt Burden (20%)100/100
Pension Funding (20%)76/100
Spending Efficiency (15%)0/100
Revenue Diversity (10%)100/100
Trend Direction (10%)50/100

Compare Cities

See how San Mateo stacks up against another city.

Data source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (2023). Population from American Community Survey.

Other Cities in California

Frequently Asked Questions

San Mateo, CA spends $185,341 per resident, based on total expenditures of $19.3B for a population of 104,165. The city has a Fiscal Health Score of C (62/100).

San Mateo, CA has total expenditures of $19.3B and total revenue of $13.2B. The city carries $0 in total debt, based on Census Bureau data from 2023.

San Mateo, CA employs 0 government workers, of which 0 are full-time. The average government salary is $0, with 0.0 employees per 10,000 residents.

San Mateo, CA has a Fiscal Health Score of C (62/100). This score evaluates budget balance, debt burden, pension funding, spending efficiency, revenue diversity, and 3-year fiscal trajectory compared to peer cities of similar population.

The this entity record above pulls directly from the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. municipal and county government finances distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.

Every number on this page links back to the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.

For readers using this page as a decision input, the related-entity pages elsewhere on the site provide the comparison set. The most useful comparison for this entity is typically a peer within U.S. cities, counties, and states with similar size, similar exposure, or similar geography — not the national-level summary alone.