Milwaukee, WI vs Oakland, CA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Oakland, CA spends 55% more per resident than Milwaukee, WI: $30,055 against $19,417. 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 62/100 (grade C) for Milwaukee, WI — a 10-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: Milwaukee, WI leads with police at $3,642 per resident, while Oakland, CA leads with health at $1,016.
They also fund themselves differently: sales tax is the largest single revenue source in Milwaukee, WI at 59% of total revenue, whereas Oakland, CA relies most on intergovernmental transfers at 100%.
Summary
Oakland spends 35.4% more per capita than Milwaukee ($10,637/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 | $6,548 | $522 |
| Income Tax | $1 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $1,231 | $42,277 |
| Other | $3,984 | $4,337 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $3,642 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $802 | $1 |
| Highways & Roads | $23 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $180 | $2,426 |
| Health | $1 | $1,016 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $2,498 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,206 | $955 |
| Housing | $1,071 | $7,811 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $1,417 |
| Utilities | $1,866 | $0 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,608 | $0 |
| Other | $8,018 | $13,929 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.