Denver, CO vs San Diego, CA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
San Diego spends 22.5% more per capita than Denver ($9,724/person difference). San Diego, CA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 53/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $124 |
| Sales Tax | $2,070 | $63 |
| Income Tax | $236 | $194 |
| Intergovernmental | $44,661 | $57 |
| Charges & Fees | $5,207 | $14 |
| Other | $10,100 | $3,801 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $2,455 | $3,335 |
| Fire Protection | $1,668 | $1,278 |
| Highways & Roads | $475 | $1,408 |
| Education | $821 | $2,005 |
| Public Welfare | $764 | $700 |
| Health | $693 | $411 |
| Hospitals | $2,855 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $3,319 | $436 |
| Housing | $3,565 | $4,476 |
| Sewerage | $293 | $43 |
| Utilities | $4,292 | $11,704 |
| Interest on Debt | $7 | $0 |
| General Admin | $364 | $0 |
| Other | $12,011 | $17,509 |
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.