Boston, MA vs Detroit, MI
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Boston spends 132.6% more per capita than Detroit ($41,211/person difference). Detroit, MI has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 69/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $44 |
| Sales Tax | $78 | $200 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $1,045 |
| Intergovernmental | $5,357 | $291 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,784 | $2,228 |
| Other | $4,557 | $6,892 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $1,107 | $2,429 |
| Highways & Roads | $594 | $0 |
| Education | $30,742 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,110 | $833 |
| Health | $725 | $396 |
| Hospitals | $2,584 | $2,217 |
| Parks & Recreation | $711 | $950 |
| Housing | $6,614 | $5,791 |
| Sewerage | $355 | $451 |
| Utilities | $3,402 | $2,737 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $2,068 |
| General Admin | $5,401 | $0 |
| Other | $18,955 | $13,216 |
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.