Oklahoma City, OK vs Houston, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Oklahoma City, OK spends 26% more per resident than Houston, TX: $18,074 against $14,400. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Houston, TX holds the stronger Fiscal Health Score, 83/100 (grade A) against 65/100 (grade B) for Oklahoma City, OK — a 18-point spread that puts the two in different grade territory.
On debt, Houston, TX carries the lighter load at $863 per resident versus $3,520 for Oklahoma City, OK. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: parks and recreation leads in Oklahoma City, OK at $2,014 per resident and in Houston, TX at $361.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Oklahoma City, OK at 19% of total revenue, whereas Houston, TX relies most on other revenue at 7%.
Summary
Oklahoma City spends 25.5% more per capita than Houston ($3,674/person difference). Houston, TX has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 83/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $763 | $181 |
| Income Tax | $1,037 | $39 |
| Intergovernmental | $6,852 | $33 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,256 | $3,475 |
| Other | $1,836 | $3,960 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $513 | $295 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $175 |
| Public Welfare | $1,525 | $533 |
| Health | $5 | $210 |
| Hospitals | $2,044 | $511 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,014 | $361 |
| Housing | $2,857 | $4,288 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $386 |
| Utilities | $4,523 | $1,339 |
| Interest on Debt | $707 | $0 |
| Other | $3,886 | $6,301 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.