New Bedford, MA vs Brockton, MA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Brockton spends 15.7% more per capita than New Bedford ($9,157/person difference). Both cities share the same Fiscal Health Score.
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $123 | $164 |
| Income Tax | $5 | $766 |
| Intergovernmental | $7,480 | $9,401 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,982 | $2,028 |
| Other | $4,106 | $2,515 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $252 | $746 |
| Highways & Roads | $886 | $271 |
| Education | $31,923 | $38,500 |
| Public Welfare | $708 | $581 |
| Health | $255 | $279 |
| Hospitals | $610 | $191 |
| Parks & Recreation | $315 | $222 |
| Housing | $2,315 | $2,794 |
| Sewerage | $99 | $135 |
| Utilities | $887 | $2,408 |
| Other | $10,966 | $12,245 |
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.