So how large is Jacksonville’s government really compared to other major Florida metro areas? That’s a question that’s becoming increasingly relevant as debates continue over public incentives, downtown redevelopment subsidies, pension obligations, projected budget deficits, and major capital projects like a new convention center and potentially a new jail.

At first glance, Jacksonville’s roughly $2 billion consolidated city budget sounds enormous compared to many other Florida cities. But the reality is a little more complicated because Jacksonville operates under a consolidated city-county government structure. In many other Florida metro areas, county governments separately provide services that Jacksonville already includes inside its city budget.

When we compare estimated annual budget growth over the last decade, most major Florida metro governments have grown substantially faster than inflation. Tampa and Fort Lauderdale appear to have experienced some of the fastest annualized growth rates, while Jacksonville and Orlando were somewhat lower, though still significant. Jacksonville’s estimated compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, came in at around 5.7% annually over the last decade — meaning the city budget has roughly doubled during that time.

But budgets alone don’t tell the full story. To better understand government scale, we also looked at Gross Metropolitan Product, or GMP, which is basically the metro-area equivalent of GDP and measures the total economic output of a region.

South Florida’s economy is by far the largest, with the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro producing an estimated half-trillion dollars or more annually in economic activity. Orlando and Tampa both have metro economies estimated at the low-to-mid $200 billion range, while Jacksonville’s metro economy is estimated at about $130 billion.

When comparing only city budgets to metro economic output, Jacksonville initially appears to have a much larger government footprint than Miami, Orlando, or Tampa. But again, that’s heavily influenced by consolidation.

Once county governments are added to the comparison, the picture changes dramatically. Combining city and county budgets, Jacksonville and Duval County actually appear to have one of the smallest local-government footprints relative to metro economic output among the major Florida regions examined.

Meanwhile, Orlando and Orange County, Tampa and Hillsborough County, and even Miami-Dade appear to have significantly larger combined government footprints relative to their regional economies.

Now, these comparisons are still imperfect because every metro area structures its government differently. Some rely heavily on independent authorities, school districts, transit agencies, tourism taxes, utility systems, and special districts that aren’t always reflected directly inside city budgets. Jacksonville also has independent entities like JEA, JTA, JAXPORT, and the Aviation Authority that exist outside the city operating budget.

But overall, the findings suggest an important point. Jacksonville’s budget growth has certainly been substantial, and there are still legitimate concerns about future liabilities, incentives, and long-term fiscal sustainability. However, when viewed in the broader context of Florida’s major metro areas, Jacksonville may not actually have an unusually large governmental footprint relative to the size of its economy once comparable county-level services are included.