San Diego, CA vs Baltimore, MD

Baltimore, MD spends 57% more per resident than San Diego, CA: $67,935 against $43,306. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.

Baltimore, MD holds the stronger Fiscal Health Score, 70/100 (grade B) against 53/100 (grade C) for San Diego, CA — a 17-point spread that puts the two in different grade territory.

Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: San Diego, CA leads with police at $3,335 per resident, while Baltimore, MD leads with education at $35,510.

They also fund themselves differently: other revenue is the largest single revenue source in San Diego, CA at 39% of total revenue, whereas Baltimore, MD relies most on intergovernmental transfers at 7%.