Bend, OR vs Salem, OR
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Salem spends 26.9% more per capita than Bend ($4,287/person difference). Bend, OR has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 72/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $29 |
| Sales Tax | $96 | $301 |
| Intergovernmental | $3,599 | $5,706 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,279 | $2,510 |
| Other | $5,555 | $5,114 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $509 | $185 |
| Highways & Roads | $315 | $285 |
| Education | $34 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,287 | $1,100 |
| Health | $0 | $311 |
| Hospitals | $471 | $2,834 |
| Parks & Recreation | $0 | $899 |
| Housing | $2,520 | $3,037 |
| Sewerage | $645 | $317 |
| Utilities | $1,020 | $1,581 |
| Other | $4,872 | $5,409 |
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.