Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Read by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date. Check the sources, and tell us if you spot a mistake. What this site can't tell you Read by hand. We read Sarnia's own documents for this site in October 2026; the Sources page lists which ones. The comparisons with other places still come from the Province's yearly reports.
Compare · 2025
How Sarnia compares with similar places
Is Sarnia spending a lot or a little? The fairest way to tell is to compare it with places like it. We picked every Ontario city of the same type (Ontario lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2025 return): 11 places with between 44,839 and 109,659 people.
How to read this. Each grey dot is one similar city. The large dot is Sarnia, and the line marked "typical" is the city in the middle. The label and colour say where Sarnia sits:
▼ Very low: lower than 90% of similar places
▼ Low: lower than 75%
≈ Typical: in the middle half
▲ High: higher than 75%
▲ Very high: higher than 90%
Warning mark: unusual in a worrying way for this measure, like very low savings or a very high tax increase
Being far from the middle is not wrong by itself, but it is where to start asking why.
One thing to keep in mind: "per home" uses the number of households each city reports to the Province. Some places count seasonal cottages as households and some do not, so comparisons with lake and cottage places are rougher than they look.
Similar places in Southwestern Ontario include Woodstock.
Spending per home
What the city spends on each service, divided by the number of homes. This makes big and small places comparable.
Total day-to-day spending
Everything the city spent in a year, divided by the number of homes.
$4,453Higher than 6 of 11 similar places. Typical: $4,453
typical
$0$5,851
City property tax
The city's own share of property tax, divided by the number of homes.
$2,830Lower than 7 of 11 similar places. Typical: $2,911
typical
$0$4,148
Running the city office
Council, managers, office staff and the city hall, per home.
$383Lower than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: $684
typical
$0$1,269
Council
Council pay, expenses and meetings, per home.
$13Lower than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: $58
typical
$0$102
Roads and snow
Per home. Places with many kilometres of rural road spend more.
$597Lower than 7 of 11 similar places. Typical: $615
typical
$0$1,060
Snow ploughing
Per home.
$59Lower than 9 of 11 similar places. Typical: $129
typical
$0$202
Police, fire and safety
Per home.
$1,994Higher than 10 of 11 similar places. Typical: $938
typical
$0$2,115
Fire department
Per home.
$735Higher than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: $584
typical
$0$735
Police
Per home. Most small Ontario places pay the OPP under the same province-wide formula.
$1,121Higher than 10 of 11 similar places. Typical: $0
typical
$0$1,184
Water, sewers and garbage
Per home.
$939Higher than 6 of 11 similar places. Typical: $939
typical
$0$1,494
Garbage, dump and recycling
Per home.
$92Higher than 8 of 11 similar places. Typical: $0
typical
$0$129
Parks, arena and library
Per home.
$446Lower than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: $986
typical
$0$1,392
Planning and business
Per home.
$74Lower than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: $194
typical
$0$459
Money health
Signs of whether the city is living within its means.
Savings compared with spending
Savings, as a share of one year's spending.
66%Lower than 7 of 11 similar places. Typical: 91%
typical
25%124%
Savings (reserves)
Money set aside for repairs and emergencies, per home. More is safer.
$2,926Lower than 7 of 11 similar places. Typical: $3,816
typical
$0$5,931
Long-term debt
What the city still owes on long-term loans, per home.
$3Lower than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: $1,535
typical
$0$5,714
Unpaid property taxes
Property taxes owed but not yet paid at year end, as a share of all taxes billed. The Province’s financial indicators treat 10% to 15% as a moderate risk and more than 15% as high.
3%Lower than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: 10%
typical
3.0%15%
Share spent running the office
Out of every dollar spent, how much goes to running the city office.
9%Lower than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: 18%
typical
8.6%27%
How worn out things are
How much of the value of roads, pipes and buildings has already been used up. Higher means older.
43%Higher than 8 of 11 similar places. Typical: 40%
typical
34%53%
How fast costs are growing
Growth over five years (2020 to 2025), and the latest one-year change in property tax.
Property tax increase, last year
How much more the city collected in its own property tax than the year before.
4%Lower than 9 of 11 similar places. Typical: 6%
typical
3.8%9.3%
Property tax growth, 5 years
How much the city's own property tax grew over five years.
20%Lower than 11 of 11 similar places. Typical: 34%
typical
20%44%
Spending growth, 5 years
How much day-to-day spending grew over five years.
40%Lower than 9 of 11 similar places. Typical: 50%
typical
32%95%
Office cost growth, 5 years
How much the cost of running the city office grew over five years.
72%Higher than 9 of 11 similar places. Typical: 52%
typical
−3.5%86%
Council cost growth, 5 years
How much council costs grew over five years.
19%Lower than 7 of 11 similar places. Typical: 32%
typical
−36%186%
Parks and arena cost growth, 5 years
How much parks, arena and library costs grew over five years.
77%Lower than 8 of 11 similar places. Typical: 81%
typical
54%139%
Roads cost growth, 5 years
How much road and snow costs grew over five years.
50%Lower than 7 of 11 similar places. Typical: 54%
typical
−19%85%
Source: Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2025, all 12 municipalities (archived copy). Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Retrieved 2026-10-01. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.
Places sort costs into categories a little differently, and some share services with neighbours, so small gaps mean little. Big gaps are worth a question.
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