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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Thunder Bay'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 · 2024
How Thunder Bay compares with similar places
Is Thunder Bay 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 single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return): 10 places with between 67,490 and 166,004 people.
How to read this. Each grey dot is one similar city. The large dot is Thunder Bay, and the line marked "typical" is the city in the middle. The label and colour say where Thunder Bay 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.
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.
$10,929Higher than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: $8,569
typical
$0$10,929
City property tax
The city's own share of property tax, divided by the number of homes.
$4,555Higher than 5 of 10 similar places. Typical: $4,555
typical
$0$5,478
Running the city office
Council, managers, office staff and the city hall, per home.
$1,627Higher than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: $926
typical
$0$1,627
Council
Council pay, expenses and meetings, per home.
$22Lower than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: $54
typical
$0$81
Roads and snow
Per home. Places with many kilometres of rural road spend more.
$765Lower than 9 of 10 similar places. Typical: $936
typical
$0$1,335
Snow ploughing
Per home.
$61Lower than 7 of 10 similar places. Typical: $97
typical
$0$321
Police, fire and safety
Per home.
$2,235Higher than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: $1,791
typical
$0$2,235
Fire department
Per home.
$699Higher than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: $525
typical
$0$699
Police
Per home. Most small Ontario places pay the OPP under the same province-wide formula.
$1,325Higher than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: $1,013
typical
$0$1,325
Water, sewers and garbage
Per home.
$1,000Higher than 5 of 10 similar places. Typical: $1,000
typical
$0$1,224
Garbage, dump and recycling
Per home.
$209Lower than 7 of 10 similar places. Typical: $215
typical
$0$547
Parks, arena and library
Per home.
$832Higher than 8 of 10 similar places. Typical: $730
typical
$0$865
Planning and business
Per home.
$225Higher than 9 of 10 similar places. Typical: $184
typical
$0$355
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.
40%Lower than 8 of 10 similar places. Typical: 62%
typical
22%117%
Savings (reserves)
Money set aside for repairs and emergencies, per home. More is safer.
$4,358Lower than 7 of 10 similar places. Typical: $5,420
typical
$0$7,859
Long-term debt
What the city still owes on long-term loans, per home.
$3,736Higher than 6 of 10 similar places. Typical: $2,614
typical
$0$7,385
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.
7%Higher than 7 of 10 similar places. Typical: 6%
typical
3.2%9.4%
Share spent running the office
Out of every dollar spent, how much goes to running the city office.
15%Higher than 9 of 10 similar places. Typical: 11%
typical
7.9%19%
How worn out things are
How much of the value of roads, pipes and buildings has already been used up. Higher means older.
61%Higher than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: 49%
typical
31%61%
How fast costs are growing
Growth over five years (2019 to 2024), 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.
7%Lower than 6 of 10 similar places. Typical: 8%
typical
4.8%9.7%
Property tax growth, 5 years
How much the city's own property tax grew over five years.
20%Lower than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: 28%
typical
20%43%
Spending growth, 5 years
How much day-to-day spending grew over five years.
16%Lower than 10 of 10 similar places. Typical: 30%
typical
16%44%
Office cost growth, 5 years
How much the cost of running the city office grew over five years.
22%Lower than 7 of 10 similar places. Typical: 45%
typical
11%249%
Council cost growth, 5 years
How much council costs grew over five years.
5%Lower than 7 of 10 similar places. Typical: 19%
typical
−0.7%218%
Parks and arena cost growth, 5 years
How much parks, arena and library costs grew over five years.
27%Higher than 7 of 10 similar places. Typical: 21%
typical
−1.5%55%
Roads cost growth, 5 years
How much road and snow costs grew over five years.
23%Higher than 5 of 10 similar places. Typical: 23%
typical
−3.3%58%
Source: Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2024, all 11 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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