Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Big City Spending: How does your city compare?
Contact: Kristen Mathews, Director of Editorial Communications
Tel: (608) 255-0688
E-mail: editor@ballotpedia.org
Municipal budget report analyzes spending in cities and states
Madison - May 4, 2015: A new study from Ballotpedia compares city spending for the top 100 largest cities in the United States. In an analysis of budget figures and population, Ballotpedia found that an average of $2,699 per citizen was spent by municipal governments in the most recent fiscal year available.
State government spending is nearly twice that figure -- $5,237 per citizen. Six cities — San Francisco, Seattle, Scottsdale, New York City, Long Beach and Austin —spent more per citizen on average than the states in which they are located.
Colorado Springs spends the least per citizen of the largest 100 cities at $566. San Francisco spends $18,867 per citizen, nearly $3,000 more than the next highest city. That means, on average, San Francisco spends 33.3 times more per citizen than Colorado Springs.
According to Daniel Anderson, Editor of Ballotpedia’s Local Desk, “Residents of the 100 largest American cities likely don’t realize how much their city spends per citizen relative to what other cities are spending. It’s staggering how much more San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are spending than cities such as Colorado Springs, Memphis and Milwaukee. Residents in cities at either extreme can look at these figures and start asking hard questions of their elected officials about city taxes and expenditures.”
With this new data, future Ballotpedia reports will answer questions regarding the disparities. Does San Francisco provide 33 times more services to its residents than Colorado Springs? This relates to the age-old question facing all cities: Should governments raise taxes and spend more to provide better services, or should they spend less and provide fewer services in order to lower taxes?
In addition to spending per citizen, Ballotpedia analyzed the spending power of city council members compared to state legislators. Spending power is the measure of how much money a city or state leader could theoretically spend if the government’s budget was divided evenly amongst all council members or state legislators to spend. When looking at the amount of spending power per elected official, Ballotpedia found that the city council members in the top 100 cities could spend $160 million each on average. That amount is 27.12 percent of the $589 million in spending power that legislators in those same states possess.
Council members in Madison, Wisconsin have the least spending power of any of their counterparts in the largest 100 cities, having only $13.75 million in spending power each. Each of San Francisco's council members has $1,436 million in spending power. Each member of San Francisco's council, therefore, has 104.5 times more spending power than one of Madison's leaders. Seven cities—Portland, New York City, Seattle, Honolulu, Phoenix, Boise and Las Vegas—give their council members more spending power on average than the state legislators elected in their state.
Quick facts
Average city budget in the largest 100 cities:
$2.225 Billion
Median city budget in the largest 100 cities:
$800 Million
Average state budget in a state with one of the largest 100 cities:
$79.590 Billion
Median state budget in a state with one of the largest 100 cities:
$44.9 Billion
Average spent per city council member in the largest 100 cities:
$160 million
Median spent per city council member in the largest 100 cities:
$91 Million
Average spent per legislator in a state with one of the largest 100 cities:
$589 million
Median spent per legislator in a state with one of the largest 100 cities:
$340 Million
About Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia.org is an encyclopedia of American politics. Ballotpedia delivers exceptionally high quality and easy-to-access information. Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, Ballotpedia was founded in 2006. It has grown to include approximately 215,000 staff-authored encyclopedic articles that have garnered over 483 million page views.
If you’d like more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Kristen Mathews at editor@ballotpedia.org.
