Bowling Green, KY vs Owensboro, KY
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Owensboro, KY spends 32% more per resident than Bowling Green, KY: $13,719 against $10,426. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Owensboro, KY edges Bowling Green, KY on the Fiscal Health Score by 2 points — 82/100 (grade A) to 80/100 (grade A). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.
Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: parks and recreation leads in Bowling Green, KY at $1,273 per resident and in Owensboro, KY at $925.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on intergovernmental transfers — 100% of total revenue in Bowling Green, KY and 15% in Owensboro, KY.
Summary
Owensboro spends 24.0% more per capita than Bowling Green ($3,293/person difference). Owensboro, KY has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 82/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $348 | $366 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $1,330 |
| Intergovernmental | $23,385 | $12,627 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $2,601 |
| Other | $1,819 | $5,535 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Education | $85 | $459 |
| Public Welfare | $861 | $1,139 |
| Hospitals | $1,024 | $1,646 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,273 | $925 |
| Housing | $2,188 | $1,738 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $53 |
| Utilities | $4 | $2,558 |
| Interest on Debt | $227 | $370 |
| Other | $4,763 | $4,831 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.