San Diego, CA vs Bakersfield, CA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
San Diego spends 274.1% more per capita than Bakersfield ($31,731/person difference). Bakersfield, CA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 56/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $124 | $1 |
| Sales Tax | $63 | $20 |
| Income Tax | $194 | $1,909 |
| Intergovernmental | $57 | $3,862 |
| Charges & Fees | $14 | $1,024 |
| Other | $3,801 | $1,915 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $3,335 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $1,278 | $0 |
| Highways & Roads | $1,408 | $0 |
| Education | $2,005 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $700 | $840 |
| Health | $411 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $425 |
| Parks & Recreation | $436 | $741 |
| Housing | $4,476 | $3,391 |
| Sewerage | $43 | $265 |
| Utilities | $11,704 | $2,679 |
| Other | $17,509 | $3,234 |
Compare More Cities
The side-by-side above pulls the the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.