In Super Bowl LIV, we will see the San Francisco 49ers go up against the Kansas City Chiefs. In the lead-up to Sunday's event there will be talk about both teams, the Super Bowl commercials, and who is going to win, but with the recent release of the Financial State of the Cities report we decided to ask, how do the cities of these teams compare?
There is a sizable population difference between San Francisco, with a population of over 880,000, and Kansas City, MO, with a population of just under 490,000. That being said, Kansas City, MO is seeing more migration into the city than San Francisco. In 2018, Kansas City had 20,240 people migrate into the city from another state, while San Francisco had 18,424.
San Francisco is well known as an expensive place to live, the city's median home value is $1,335,808. That is more than nine times larger than the median home value in Kansas City, MO, which is $140,216. The cost does not get much better when you look at renting either. The median cost of a 2-bedroom apartment in San Francisco is $4,542, while in Kansas City, MO the median cost is $1,069.
If the cost of living somewhere is higher than average, then the average pay for that area should also higher, right? This is true in the case of San Francisco. For those with only a high school degree the median earnings are $32,327, but Kansas City, MO is not too far behind with median earnings of $29,923. The gap starts to widen with college degrees.. The median earnings for those with a bachelor's degree in San Francisco is $89,067, and in Kansas City, MO the median earnings are $53,555. The median earnings for advanced degrees in San Francisco are $106,680, and in Kansas City, MO the median earnings are $63,237.
One thing that cannot be ignored about a city is its finances, and in that category neither city is doing good. San Francisco needs $4.9 billion to pay their bills, so this means the city's Taxpayer Burden is $17,000. Kansas City, MO needs $1.5 billion to pay their bills, making their Taxpayer Burden $9,800. While both cities are in debt, Kansas City, MO is in a better place than San Francisco.
In the Financial State of the Cities report, San Francisco ranked no. 67 and Kansas City, MO ranked no. 56, so neither of them are really do well even compared to other 75 cities included in the report. Based on this information, Kansas City, MO is the better city financially, even if the city's finances are far from stellar.
Since the Financial State of the Cities report looks at a city's government finances based on that information, we at Truth in Accounting have to root for the Kansas City Chiefs. Hopefully both teams do better in the game than their cities are doing financially.
To read the full Financial State of the Cities click here.