Portland, OR vs Milwaukee, WI

Portland, OR spends 22% more per resident than Milwaukee, WI: $23,675 against $19,417. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.

Portland, OR edges Milwaukee, WI on the Fiscal Health Score by 1 points — 63/100 (grade C) to 62/100 (grade C). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.

Milwaukee, WI reports no outstanding debt per resident in its Census filing, while Portland, OR carries $1,574 per resident. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Portland, OR leads with parks and recreation at $2,477 per resident, while Milwaukee, WI leads with police at $3,642.

They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Portland, OR at 19% of total revenue, whereas Milwaukee, WI relies most on sales tax at 59%.