Mesa, AZ vs Gilbert, AZ
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Mesa spends 13.6% more per capita than Gilbert ($1,529/person difference). Mesa, AZ has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 90/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $47 | $2 |
| Sales Tax | $463 | $244 |
| Income Tax | $1,376 | $1,096 |
| Intergovernmental | $1,383 | $35,750 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,334 | $2,411 |
| Other | $2,253 | $1,553 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $39 |
| Fire Protection | $422 | $133 |
| Highways & Roads | $192 | $191 |
| Public Welfare | $829 | $955 |
| Health | $147 | $142 |
| Hospitals | $537 | $29 |
| Parks & Recreation | $953 | $1,066 |
| Housing | $4,190 | $2,707 |
| Sewerage | $38 | $208 |
| Utilities | $2,376 | $2,287 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $25 |
| Other | $3,082 | $3,455 |
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.