Budget Explorer · City of Saint Paul

Where the money comes from, and where it goes

Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for City of Saint Paul, on the same Census classification used for every city, county, and state in the Library — so the figures line up with peers rather than with the government's own budget book. Latest year: FY ending Dec 31, 2023. City of Saint Paul's own 2026 budget, in its own structure, follows below.

Audited actuals · Census classification · 303K residents

At a glance

Total revenue

$1.11B

$3,645 per resident

Total spending

$1.08B

$3,553 per resident

Spending per resident

$3,553

47th percentile of 71

Debt outstanding

$909M

$2,998 per resident · 32nd percentile of 70

Own-source share

68%

20th percentile of 71

Capital share

20%

57th percentile of 71

Where the money comes from

$1.11B total

Own-source revenue (taxes, charges, interest) versus aid from other governments. Utility and trust revenue are shown alongside general revenue but run on their own books.

Property tax$226M20%
General sales tax$24M2%
Selective sales taxes$33M3%
License & other taxes$19M2%
Federal aid$154M14%
State & local aid$167M15%
Charges & fees$292M26%
Interest, fines, other$78M7%
Utility revenue$112M10%

Own-source share of general revenue 68% · federal aid 16% · property tax is 75% of taxes

Where it goes

$1.08B total

Current operations plus capital outlay, grouped by Census function. Interest on debt and transfers to other governments are broken out so they are not hidden inside services.

Public safety$256M24%
Environment & housing$210M20%
Utilities (water, power, gas)$159M15%
General government$143M13%
Culture & recreation$132M12%
Transportation$124M11%
Interest on debt$51M5%
Health & hospitals$1.2M0%
Transfers to other governments$1.0M0%

Show top functions with operating vs. capital ▸

Function	Category	Operating	Capital	Total
Police protection	Public safety	$159M	$13M	$172M
Water utility	Utilities (water, power, gas)	$74M	$85M	$159M
General (unallocable)	General government	$115M	$9.3M	$124M
Housing & community development	Environment & housing	$109M	$12M	$121M
Parks & recreation	Culture & recreation	$80M	$30M	$110M
Highways	Transportation	$62M	$41M	$103M
Fire protection	Public safety	$81M	$3.2M	$84M
Sewerage	Environment & housing	$62M	$12M	$74M
Libraries	Culture & recreation	$22M	$327K	$22M
Sea & inland ports	Transportation	$13M	$7.0M	$20M
Financial administration	General government	$16M	—	$16M
Solid waste management	Environment & housing	$15M	$572K	$16M
Central staff services	General government	$2.8M	—	$2.8M
Health	Health & hospitals	$1.2M	—	$1.2M

Trend · 3 fiscal years

Nominal dollars. The Census Bureau cautions that single-government series are edited only for aggregates — read direction, not decimals.

Revenue

+31% over 2 yrs

$846M → $1.11B

Spending

+27% over 2 yrs

$850M → $1.08B

Debt outstanding

+16% over 2 yrs

$786M → $909M

How it compares · 71 cities and counties in the Library

Percentile within the cohort on each place's latest Census year. Higher is not better — the last column says what a high reading means so you can decide whether it matters here.

Measure	City of Saint Paul	Cohort median	Percentile	Higher means
Spending per resident	$3,553	$3,741	47th	more spent per resident
Revenue per resident	$3,645	$3,548	54th	more raised per resident
Taxes per resident	$997	$1,328	26th	heavier own-tax load
Debt per resident	$2,998	$3,865	32nd	more borrowed per resident
Own-source share of revenue	68%	81%	20th	less dependent on aid
Federal aid share of revenue	16%	7%	92nd	more exposed to federal cuts
Capital share of spending	20%	18%	57th	more building, less operating
Interest share of spending	5%	4%	61st	more spend servicing debt
Debt ÷ annual revenue	0.82×	1.05×	32nd	more leveraged

About this data

Census classification categories, not this government's own budget structure. Figures are audited actuals for the fiscal year shown, not the adopted budget.
The Census Bureau edits unit-level data only to produce state and national aggregates and advises against reading it as a precise time series for any single government; treat year-over-year moves under ~5% as noise.
Employee-retirement-system revenue is excluded (published separately by Census). Utility and insurance-trust revenue are shown separately from general revenue.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (Individual Unit public-use files), unit 272123167605 (ST Paul City). Retrieved 2026-09-07. Classification manual.

Spot an error, or know a better source for this place's adopted budget? Suggest an edit on the assessment.

Adopted budget · 2026

City of Saint Paul's own budget, in its own structure, read from its published budget book and checked against the total the document itself prints. This is the current year — more recent than the Census series above, but only comparable to this city's own history. Totals cover 18 departments.

$993M total

Public Works$260M26%
Police$147M15%
Debt Service$94M9%
Fire$91M9%
Parks and Recreation$87M9%
Planning and Economic Development$71M7%
Financial Services$69M7%
General Government$48M5%
Safety and Inspection$28M3%
Library Agency$28M3%
City Attorney$20M2%
Technology$17M2%
All other (6)$34M3%

Parsed from the published budget book (pages 13-13) — general and special funds combined, before transfers are removed.
Figures are checked against the total the document itself prints before publishing.
This is the gross figure. Removing transfers and next year's debt gives Saint Paul's net budget of $883,140,225.
The library agency is governed separately from the city departments.
Source: 2026 Adopted Budget (Composite Summary by Department) (published budget book), retrieved 2026-09-13. Open the source document.

Looking for how this fits City of Saint Paul's capacity to deliver? The fiscal dimension, binding constraint, and pathways live in the City of Saint Paul capacity assessment.