El Paso, TX vs Milwaukee, WI
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
El Paso, TX spends 25% more per resident than Milwaukee, WI: $24,259 against $19,417. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Milwaukee, WI edges El Paso, TX on the Fiscal Health Score by 1 points — 62/100 (grade C) to 61/100 (grade C). 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: police leads in El Paso, TX at $1,159 per resident and in Milwaukee, WI at $3,642.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in El Paso, TX at 10% of total revenue, whereas Milwaukee, WI relies most on sales tax at 59%.
Summary
El Paso spends 24.9% more per capita than Milwaukee ($4,842/person difference). Milwaukee, WI has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 62/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $65 | $6,548 |
| Income Tax | $12 | $1 |
| Intergovernmental | $690 | $1,231 |
| Charges & Fees | $31 | $0 |
| Other | $550 | $3,984 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,159 | $3,642 |
| Fire Protection | $233 | $802 |
| Highways & Roads | $83 | $23 |
| Public Welfare | $299 | $180 |
| Health | $0 | $1 |
| Hospitals | $11 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $151 | $2,206 |
| Housing | $958 | $1,071 |
| Sewerage | $6 | $0 |
| Utilities | $224 | $1,866 |
| Interest on Debt | $40 | $1,608 |
| General Admin | $17,951 | $0 |
| Other | $3,145 | $8,018 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.