Bowie, MD vs Gaithersburg, MD
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Bowie spends 11.4% more per capita than Gaithersburg ($1,082/person difference). Bowie, MD has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 65/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $239 | $530 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $266 |
| Intergovernmental | $5,294 | $0 |
| Charges & Fees | $702 | $0 |
| Other | $729 | $864 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $780 | $647 |
| Highways & Roads | $232 | $280 |
| Public Welfare | $1,218 | $932 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $452 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,793 | $1,507 |
| Housing | $2,412 | $1,611 |
| Sewerage | $199 | $254 |
| Utilities | $1,773 | $541 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $263 |
| Other | $2,154 | $2,991 |
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.