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Data from U.S. Census Bureau · 2026 · Methodology
CitySpend

St. Paul, MN vs Rochester, MN

Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)

Summary

St. Paul spends 63.5% more per capita than Rochester ($8,756/person difference). Rochester, MN has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 86/100).

Fiscal Health Score

City A
St. Paul, MN
Pop. 308,806
C
55/100
Budget Balance52
Debt Burden0
Pension Funding76
Spending Efficiency77
Revenue Diversity100
Trend Direction50
City B
Rochester, MN
Pop. 120,848
A
86/100
Budget Balance100
Debt Burden81
Pension Funding76
Spending Efficiency98
Revenue Diversity100
Trend Direction50

Key Metrics

Metric
St. Paul
Rochester
Total Spending
$7.0B
$1.7B
Spending / Capita
$22,552
$13,796
Total Revenue
$11.3B
$3.6B
Revenue / Capita
$36,688
$29,511
Total Debt
$625.8M
$69.2M
Debt / Capita
$2,026
$573
Population
308,806
120,848
Gov Employees / 10K
0.0
0.0
Avg Gov Salary
$0
$0

Per Capita Spending by Department

Fire Protection
St. Paul$503
Rochester$445
Parks & Recreation
St. Paul$2,137
Rochester$1,257
Health
St. Paul$663
Rochester$673

Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)

St. PaulRochester
Property Tax
$130
$1,144
Sales Tax
$1,463
$1,029
Income Tax
$27
$0
Intergovernmental
$6,526
$120
Charges & Fees
$2,727
$1,283
Other
$4,806
$6,193

Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)

St. PaulRochester
Fire Protection
$503
$445
Public Welfare
$1,730
$1,563
Health
$663
$673
Hospitals
$3,391
$0
Parks & Recreation
$2,137
$1,257
Housing
$4,835
$3,160
Sewerage
$367
$0
Utilities
$2,294
$957
Interest on Debt
$0
$971
Other
$6,632
$4,771
C
St. Paul, MN
Fiscal Health Score: 55/100
Average fiscal health
A
Rochester, MN
Fiscal Health Score: 86/100
Excellent fiscal health

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.