Bakersfield, CA vs Mesa, AZ
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Mesa spends 9.3% more per capita than Bakersfield ($1,192/person difference). Mesa, AZ has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 90/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $1 | $47 |
| Sales Tax | $20 | $463 |
| Income Tax | $1,909 | $1,376 |
| Intergovernmental | $3,862 | $1,383 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,024 | $3,334 |
| Other | $1,915 | $2,253 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $0 | $422 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $192 |
| Public Welfare | $840 | $829 |
| Health | $0 | $147 |
| Hospitals | $425 | $537 |
| Parks & Recreation | $741 | $953 |
| Housing | $3,391 | $4,190 |
| Sewerage | $265 | $38 |
| Utilities | $2,679 | $2,376 |
| Other | $3,234 | $3,082 |
Compare More Cities
The side-by-side above pulls the the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.