Florida · 120,932 residents
How much does West Palm Beach spend?
What is West Palm Beach's money for?
Click a category to see what it pays for.
By categoryShare of budget against towns of the same size$455.1M
“elsewhere”: what towns the same size usually devoteWest Palm Beach devotes a larger share of its budgeta smaller share
- Police, fire and public safety$149.4M33%elsewhere: 36%33% · towns its size: 36%
- Water, sewer and utilities$97.6M21%elsewhere: 17%21% · towns its size: 17%
- Streets and public works$58.2M13%elsewhere: 14%13% · towns its size: 14%
- Planning and development$49.6M11%elsewhere: 3%11% · towns its size: 3%
- Libraries, parks and recreation$41.0M9%elsewhere: 7%9% · towns its size: 7%
- Debt payments$35.7M8%elsewhere: 3%8% · towns its size: 3%
- General government$23.4M5%elsewhere: 12%5% · towns its size: 12%
- Health and human services$200,089<1%elsewhere: 0%0% · towns its size: 0%
Shares of the town's counted spending. “Elsewhere”: the median share among the towns of the state closest in population — half give more, half less.
Compare with a town of the same size in Florida
Per resident, FY2024 accounts, against the towns of Florida closest in population. A town above or below is not better or worse run.
What it builds, levies and owes
What it builds
$25.7Minvested in FY2024 · $212 per resident · −7.8% vs FY2023
What the town's capital projects funds spent in FY2024. Construction paid from other funds is counted inside each category.
Where it goes (10 lines)
Understand
What this page covers
Actual spending from the town's own funds, as it reports it in its Annual Financial Report, by state account code: general and special funds, utilities and the agencies it owns. Money it holds for others (pension and custodial funds) and internal service funds, which re-spend what departments already paid them, are left out. Florida does not collect voted budgets. Construction is counted inside each function.
Voted budget and actual spending
The voted budget is what the town approved before the year began. Actual spending is what it paid out, audited and reported to the state after the year ended. The two differ: money set aside is not always spent, and budgets are amended during the year.
Comparing with other towns in Florida
Each state collects its towns' figures in its own way. Some report the general fund only, others every fund; some include schools and others leave them to separate school districts. Per-resident figures are compared between towns of the same state only. A few cities also do the work of a county — San Francisco and Jacksonville among them — and spend far more per resident than a city of the same size.
Source
Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research, from DFS Annual Financial Reports. The state's records ↗ Population: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments (population reported with the unit), 2024 file.
Source: Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research, from DFS Annual Financial Reports.