Per Capita County Revenue

County Revenues Average About Two-Thirds of the California Level

Why is it important?

County revenues provide important community services from fire protection to planning to public works. Police, sheriffs, and local courts help to make a community safe. At local libraries, residents can find great literature, research facts, record local history, and read stories to children. Medical services and hospitals tend to the sick and injured.
Local governments rely on a variety of revenues to pay for these services: property taxes, special assessments, licenses and permits, user fees and money from state and federal governments.

How are we doing?

In the Sierra Nevada, county revenues average $1,171 per person, about two-thirds of the California level. Moreover, between 1993 and 2002 revenues increased more slowly in the Sierra Nevada than across the state, 1.5 percent compared to 1.9 percent annually. Although per capita revenues do not rise and fall in all counties at the same time, revenues have risen throughout the Sierra since 2000. Revenues per capita are highest in the East, about 25 percent above the state average, but holding steady. In the North, per capita revenues are seven percent above California, but increasing by three percent per year, the fastest rate within the Sierra Nevada. In North Central, per capita revenue is about half the state rate, and increasing by two percent per year. In South Central, county revenue averages about 70 percent of the state and is holding steady.

Download data and charts 1985 to 2002