Milwaukee, WI vs Long Beach, CA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Long Beach, CA outspends Milwaukee, WI by a wide margin per resident — $34,250 versus $19,417, a 76% difference. A gap this size usually reflects a structurally different service mix or accounting scope rather than a single line item.
Long Beach, CA edges Milwaukee, WI on the Fiscal Health Score by 5 points — 67/100 (grade B) to 62/100 (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. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Milwaukee, WI leads with police at $3,642 per resident, while Long Beach, CA leads with parks and recreation at $698.
They also fund themselves differently: sales tax is the largest single revenue source in Milwaukee, WI at 59% of total revenue, whereas Long Beach, CA relies most on other revenue at 12%.
Summary
Long Beach spends 43.3% more per capita than Milwaukee ($14,833/person difference). Long Beach, CA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 67/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $6,548 | $36 |
| Income Tax | $1 | $1,760 |
| Intergovernmental | $1,231 | $1,688 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $2,424 |
| Other | $3,984 | $8,836 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $3,642 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $802 | $0 |
| Highways & Roads | $23 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $180 | $1,317 |
| Health | $1 | $477 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $2,751 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,206 | $698 |
| Housing | $1,071 | $5,782 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $86 |
| Utilities | $1,866 | $3,889 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,608 | $2,718 |
| Other | $8,018 | $16,533 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.