Portland, OR vs Detroit, MI

Detroit, MI spends 31% more per resident than Portland, OR: $31,087 against $23,675. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.

Detroit, MI edges Portland, OR on the Fiscal Health Score by 6 points — 69/100 (grade B) to 63/100 (grade C). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.

On debt, Detroit, MI carries the lighter load at $776 per resident versus $1,574 for Portland, OR. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Portland, OR leads with parks and recreation at $2,477 per resident, while Detroit, MI leads with fire protection at $2,429.

They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Portland, OR at 19% of total revenue, whereas Detroit, MI relies most on other revenue at 15%.