Oakland, CA vs Anaheim, CA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Oakland, CA spends 28% more per resident than Anaheim, CA: $30,055 against $23,533. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Anaheim, CA edges Oakland, CA on the Fiscal Health Score by 6 points — 78/100 (grade B) to 72/100 (grade B). 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: Oakland, CA leads with health at $1,016 per resident, while Anaheim, CA leads with parks and recreation at $2,078.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Oakland, CA at 100% of total revenue, whereas Anaheim, CA relies most on other revenue at 5%.
Summary
Oakland spends 27.7% more per capita than Anaheim ($6,522/person difference). Anaheim, CA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 78/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $522 | $1,788 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $2,380 |
| Intergovernmental | $42,277 | $1,297 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $2,764 |
| Other | $4,337 | $5,232 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $1 | $254 |
| Public Welfare | $2,426 | $813 |
| Health | $1,016 | $358 |
| Hospitals | $2,498 | $4,753 |
| Parks & Recreation | $955 | $2,078 |
| Housing | $7,811 | $5,592 |
| Sewerage | $1,417 | $726 |
| Utilities | $0 | $3,943 |
| Other | $13,929 | $5,014 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.