Boston, MA vs San Jose, CA

Boston, MA outspends San Jose, CA by a wide margin per resident — $72,299 versus $17,934, a 303% difference. A gap this size usually reflects a structurally different service mix or accounting scope rather than a single line item.

San Jose, CA holds the stronger Fiscal Health Score, 90/100 (grade A) against 56/100 (grade C) for Boston, MA — a 34-point spread that puts the two in different grade territory.

San Jose, CA reports no outstanding debt per resident in its Census filing, while Boston, MA carries $445 per resident. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Boston, MA leads with education at $30,742 per resident, while San Jose, CA leads with parks and recreation at $1,424.

They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Boston, MA at 17% of total revenue, whereas San Jose, CA relies most on other revenue at 9%.