St. Petersburg, FL vs Orlando, FL
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Orlando, FL spends 43% more per resident than St. Petersburg, FL: $31,123 against $21,836. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
St. Petersburg, FL edges Orlando, FL on the Fiscal Health Score by 4 points — 77/100 (grade B) to 73/100 (grade B). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.
Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: fire protection leads in St. Petersburg, FL at $3,795 per resident and in Orlando, FL at $5,632.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in St. Petersburg, FL at 100% of total revenue, whereas Orlando, FL relies most on other revenue at 22%.
Summary
Orlando spends 29.8% more per capita than St. Petersburg ($9,287/person difference). St. Petersburg, FL has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 77/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $1,480 | $2,492 |
| Income Tax | $2,094 | $1,219 |
| Intergovernmental | $34,179 | $432 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,683 | $0 |
| Other | $5,544 | $6,520 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $3,795 | $5,632 |
| Public Welfare | $669 | $628 |
| Health | $308 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $546 | $775 |
| Parks & Recreation | $3,226 | $4,107 |
| Housing | $4,761 | $5,645 |
| Sewerage | $131 | $585 |
| Utilities | $3,465 | $1,262 |
| Other | $4,935 | $12,489 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.