2022 City Combined Taxpayer Burden Report

10 Most Populous Cities in the U.S. - City Financial Health

Truth in Accounting has released a new analysis of the 10 most populous U.S. cities that includes their largest underlying government units. With the exception of New York City, most municipalities do not include in their annual financial reports the finances of large, underlying government units for which city taxpayers are also responsible, such as school districts, and transit and housing authorities.

This report takes into account these underlying government entities which are essentially subsidiaries of the city and thus provides residents and taxpayers in these cities with a more accurate and holistic view of their respective city’s finances. We include underlying entities that city governments claim responsibility for in their annual financial reports. When the unfunded debt of these underlying government units is combined with the county, municipal, and state debt, city taxpayers are on the hook for much more than they think.

The 2022 City combined Taxpayer Burden Report found that taxpayers in these 10 cities face an average combined taxpayer burden of more than $49,400, when all entities involved, such as county, state, and “off-balance sheet” government entities, are included.

Phoenix, Arizona had the best city finances out of the 10 most populous cities in the U.S. with a combined taxpayer burden of $11,200. But not all 10 cities were so lucky. Chicago had the worst city finances of the group, with a combined taxpayer burden of $135,700.

The full Financial State of the Cities report can be found online here. The 10 city ranking (from best to worst) is below:

City and Combined Taxpayer Burden

1. Phoenix: (-$11,200)
2. San Antonio: (-$19,400)
3. Houston: (-$26,000)
4. Dallas: (-$27,500)
5. San Diego: (-$37,600)
6. San Jose: (-$42,100)
7. Philadelphia: (-$48,100)
8. Los Angeles: (-$55,300)
9. New York City: (-$91,500)
10. Chicago: (-$135,700)

Founded in 2002, Truth in Accounting is dedicated to educating and empowering citizens with understandable, reliable, and transparent government financial information. Sheila Weinberg is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 40 years of experience in the field.

Amber Saxon, Communications Intern at Truth in Accounting