Seattle, WA vs San Diego, CA

San Diego, CA spends 26% more per resident than Seattle, WA: $43,306 against $34,463. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.

Seattle, WA holds the stronger Fiscal Health Score, 61/100 (grade C) against 53/100 (grade C) for San Diego, CA — a 8-point spread that puts the two in different grade territory.

San Diego, CA reports no outstanding debt per resident in its Census filing, while Seattle, WA carries $1,100 per resident. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Seattle, WA leads with parks and recreation at $3,923 per resident, while San Diego, CA leads with police at $3,335.

They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Seattle, WA at 13% of total revenue, whereas San Diego, CA relies most on other revenue at 39%.