Gaithersburg, MD vs Bowie, MD
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Bowie spends 10.2% more per capita than Gaithersburg ($1,082/person difference). Bowie, MD has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 65/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $530 | $239 |
| Income Tax | $266 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $0 | $5,294 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $702 |
| Other | $864 | $729 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $647 | $780 |
| Highways & Roads | $280 | $232 |
| Public Welfare | $932 | $1,218 |
| Hospitals | $452 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,507 | $1,793 |
| Housing | $1,611 | $2,412 |
| Sewerage | $254 | $199 |
| Utilities | $541 | $1,773 |
| Interest on Debt | $263 | $0 |
| Other | $2,991 | $2,154 |
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.