Milwaukee, WI vs El Paso, TX
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 Milwaukee, WI at $3,642 per resident and in El Paso, TX at $1,159.
They also fund themselves differently: sales tax is the largest single revenue source in Milwaukee, WI at 59% of total revenue, whereas El Paso, TX relies most on intergovernmental transfers at 10%.
Summary
El Paso spends 20.0% 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 | $6,548 | $65 |
| Income Tax | $1 | $12 |
| Intergovernmental | $1,231 | $690 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $31 |
| Other | $3,984 | $550 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $3,642 | $1,159 |
| Fire Protection | $802 | $233 |
| Highways & Roads | $23 | $83 |
| Public Welfare | $180 | $299 |
| Health | $1 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $11 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,206 | $151 |
| Housing | $1,071 | $958 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $6 |
| Utilities | $1,866 | $224 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,608 | $40 |
| General Admin | $0 | $17,951 |
| Other | $8,018 | $3,145 |
Compare More Cities
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.