Who wins best fiscal health: Kansas City or Tampa Bay?

This Sunday, February 7 kicks offSuper Bowl LV. The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to repeat last year’s success against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We do not know who will win the big game, but we do know which home city is in the best financial position.

In the case of financial health we have a clear winner: Tampa. In this year’s Financial State of the Cities (FSOC) report Kansas City, MO ranked no. 57 out of 75 and received a D grade for fiscal health. On the other hand, Tampa Bay ranked no. 10 out of 75 and received a B grade for fiscal health.

In the FSOC, cities are ranked based on their Taxpayer Surplus or Burden. This number is found by taking the overall amount of money available or needed for future bills and dividing that number by the number of taxpayers in the cities. Kansas City, MO has a Taxpayer Burden of $11,300 and Tampa has a Taxpayer Surplus of $1,400.

How do the cities compare outside of fiscal health?

The populations of Kansas City, MO and Tampa are pretty comparable at 495,000 and 400,000 respectively. That being said, Kansas City, MO is seeing more migration into the city than Tampa. In 2019, Kansas City had 25,236 people migrate into the city from another state, while Tampa had 12,159.

What about the cost of living? If you are looking for a cheap home, Kansas City, MO is the place for you. The medium home value in Kansas City, MO is $155,539 and in Tampa the cost is $238,282. The good news is that both cities have a lower median home value than the national average, which is $326,096.

If you are looking to rent, Kansas City, MO is still your best bet with a $1,113 rent median for a two-bedroom apartment. In Tampa rent for a two-bedroom apartment would cost you $1,766, which is higher than the national average at $1,617.

If Tampa is more expensive than Kansas City, MO then you should make more money if you live there, right? The median earnings for high school graduates for both cities is close with Kansas City, MO at $31,153, and Tampa at $32,891. When you look at just the population of each city with bachelor’s degrees, the median incomes are still similar with Kansas City, MO at $52,242 and Tampa at $52,291. The gap grows when you look at the median earnings for those with advanced degrees. In Kansas City, MO the median earnings for those with advanced degrees is $65,142 and in Tampa the median earnings is $86,219.

One thing that cannot be ignored about a city is its finances. Kansas City, MO needs $1.7 billion to pay their bills, making their Taxpayer Burden $11,300, while Tampa has $173.4 million available for future bills giving them a Taxpayer Surplus of $1,400. We do not know who will win the Super Bowl, but in the battle of fiscal health Tampa runs away with a victory.

To read the full Financial State of the Cities report click here.

Madison Randolph is a development intern at Truth in Accounting.