Detroit, MI vs Oakland, CA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Detroit spends 3.4% more per capita than Oakland ($1,033/person difference). Oakland, CA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 72/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $44 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $200 | $522 |
| Income Tax | $1,045 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $291 | $42,277 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,228 | $0 |
| Other | $6,892 | $4,337 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $2,429 | $1 |
| Public Welfare | $833 | $2,426 |
| Health | $396 | $1,016 |
| Hospitals | $2,217 | $2,498 |
| Parks & Recreation | $950 | $955 |
| Housing | $5,791 | $7,811 |
| Sewerage | $451 | $1,417 |
| Utilities | $2,737 | $0 |
| Interest on Debt | $2,068 | $0 |
| Other | $13,216 | $13,929 |
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.