Portland, OR vs Long Beach, CA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Long Beach, CA spends 45% more per resident than Portland, OR: $34,250 against $23,675. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Long Beach, CA edges Portland, OR on the Fiscal Health Score by 4 points — 67/100 (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.
Long Beach, CA reports no outstanding debt per resident in its Census filing, while Portland, OR carries $1,574 per resident. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: parks and recreation leads in Portland, OR at $2,477 per resident and in Long Beach, CA at $698.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Portland, OR at 19% of total revenue, whereas Long Beach, CA relies most on other revenue at 12%.
Summary
Long Beach spends 30.9% more per capita than Portland ($10,575/person difference). Long Beach, CA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 67/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $1,695 | $36 |
| Income Tax | $130 | $1,760 |
| Intergovernmental | $8,979 | $1,688 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,883 | $2,424 |
| Other | $7,916 | $8,836 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $1,700 | $0 |
| Highways & Roads | $139 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $3,607 | $1,317 |
| Health | $0 | $477 |
| Hospitals | $2,893 | $2,751 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,477 | $698 |
| Housing | $3,694 | $5,782 |
| Sewerage | $630 | $86 |
| Utilities | $1,845 | $3,889 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $2,718 |
| Other | $6,689 | $16,533 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.