El Paso, TX vs Oakland, CA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Oakland, CA spends 24% more per resident than El Paso, TX: $30,055 against $24,259. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Oakland, CA holds the stronger Fiscal Health Score, 72/100 (grade B) against 61/100 (grade C) for El Paso, TX — a 11-point spread that puts the two in different grade territory.
Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: El Paso, TX leads with police at $1,159 per resident, while Oakland, CA leads with health at $1,016.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on intergovernmental transfers — 10% of total revenue in El Paso, TX and 100% in Oakland, CA.
Summary
Oakland spends 19.3% more per capita than El Paso ($5,796/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)
| Sales Tax | $65 | $522 |
| Income Tax | $12 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $690 | $42,277 |
| Charges & Fees | $31 | $0 |
| Other | $550 | $4,337 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,159 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $233 | $1 |
| Highways & Roads | $83 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $299 | $2,426 |
| Health | $0 | $1,016 |
| Hospitals | $11 | $2,498 |
| Parks & Recreation | $151 | $955 |
| Housing | $958 | $7,811 |
| Sewerage | $6 | $1,417 |
| Utilities | $224 | $0 |
| Interest on Debt | $40 | $0 |
| General Admin | $17,951 | $0 |
| Other | $3,145 | $13,929 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.