News & Events

The City’s strong fiscal management, economy, reserves, and development and investment pipeline recognized

The City of Jacksonville is honored to announce that S&P Global and Kroll Bond Rating Agency have reaffirmed top-tier “AA” ratings and a stable outlook for the City’s 2026 special revenue bonds, which fund infrastructure projects in the Capital Improvement Plan. Last week, Fitch Ratings reaffirmed an “AA+” rating.

All three leading agencies agree that Jacksonville is in a strong financial position after conducting an unbiased and apolitical analysis of the City’s current and future fiscal outlook.

The S&P and KBRA ratings reflect strong fiscal management, a fast-growing economy, a commitment to storm resilience, a robust pipeline of downtown development projects, and healthy budget reserves.

“We are grateful S&P and KBRA have joined Fitch in recognizing Jacksonville’s strong financial position and budget management,” said Mayor Donna Deegan. “These top-tier ratings are like having a good personal credit rating that means lower interest rates and money saved for your family. Similarly, the City will save millions in taxpayer dollars as we fund critical infrastructure projects across Jacksonville.”

Highlights from the S&P Global Analysis

• Strong Fiscal Management: Proactive and sophisticated financial policies and practices, demonstrated by well-rounded budgeting practices, general fund forecasting and long-term capital planning, and formal policies on debt and investments.
• Robust Economy: The “AA” rating reflects S&P’s view of Jacksonville’s robust and diverse economy, which continues to strengthen through healthy employment gains and investment coming to the city, along with an already significant military presence.
• Focus on Resilience: The City is working to address its immediate and long-term weather-related risks by implementing the Resilient Jacksonville strategy, which includes a commitment to reduce risk in land and neighborhood decisions.

Highlights from the KBRA Analysis

• Jacksonville’s strong commitment to financial resilience.
• The City’s $7 billion public and private development pipeline, of which approximately 54% is completed or under construction, includes projects for parks, infrastructure, mixed-use development, and workforce development.
• Fund balance levels far exceed the City’s Reserve Policy targets, providing a substantial cushion.

Fitch Recognizes City’s Fiscal Management, Booming Economy, and Fast Population Growth

The City of Jacksonville is honored to announce that Fitch Ratings has assigned another top tier “AA+” rating for our 2026 special revenue bonds.

A city’s bond rating is a measure of its credit quality, which is the ability to pay a bond’s principal and interest in a timely fashion. A higher bond rating means the city can borrow for infrastructure projects at a lower interest rate, saving millions of taxpayer dollars in the process.

This rating reflects the high financial resilience assessment that Jacksonville received, which is “underpinned by the city’s solid operating track record and Fitch’s expectation that available reserves will continue to exceed 10% of spending.” It also incorporates an increase in economic and institutional strength that recognizes “the city’s position as an anchor of the northeast Florida economy.”

“We are grateful Fitch recognizes that we are financially strong and getting stronger,” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. “This year’s rating marks the third year in a row that we have received a top tier AA+ rating. It’s not just a trophy for City Hall. It represents savings for taxpayers. It tells the world that Jacksonville is serious, stable, and well managed. It confirms we’re a city on the rise that is worth betting on.”

1. Fitch acknowledged strong fiscal management and efficiency. Specifically, Fitch’s analysis showed revenues exceeding the budget because of “substantial expenditure savings due to departmental and non-departmental operating cost savings – a testament to the City’s fiscally responsible approach to budgeting through technology adoption, LEAN904 process improvements, data-driven decision-making, and holding the number of non-public safety employees flat, despite a growing community.

2. Fitch noted Jacksonville’s fast population growth. Based on the median of 10-year annual percentage change in population, Fitch rated Jacksonville’s population trend as “Strong.” In other words, the city’s population is of sufficient size, and the economy is diversified enough to qualify for their highest overall size/diversification category.

3. Fitch analysis shows that Jacksonville’s economy continues to excel. Not only is Jacksonville the anchor of Northeast Florida economy, but it also has large and expanding healthcare, logistics, and defense industries that make up a highly diverse economy. This led to a year-over-year +1 notch in the “Additional Analytical Factor” for economic strength. The City’s focus on nurturing an attractive business environment and improvements in quality of life has enabled this continued growth.

Jacksonville was recently named the Best-Run City in Florida, according to WalletHub’s Best- & Worst-Run Cities in America (2026) ranking.

Overall, Jacksonville ranked as the 18th best-run city out of 148 in the United States. The city earned a particularly strong score for total budget per capita, placing 8th nationally in that category.

“We’re honored to be named the Best-Run City in Florida open_in_new. This national recognition confirms what we already knew: Jacksonville is a city on the rise,” said Mayor Donna Deegan. “We manage the city efficiently, spend tax dollars wisely, and invest in priorities that deliver the greatest return for our citizens. That’s why Jacksonville has so much momentum right now — and we aren’t slowing down.”

WalletHub analysts compared the quality of public services delivered to residents with the overall budget to assess how effectively public funds are managed. Their analysis examined:

• 148 of the nation’s largest cities
• A “Quality of Services” score based on 36 metrics
• Six key service areas: Financial Stability, Education, Health, Safety, Economy, and Infrastructure & Pollution

The report also noted the complexities of governing growing cities and the ongoing need for leaders to balance community priorities with limited resources.

The City of Jacksonville is pleased to announce that S&P Global and Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KRBA) have assigned two more top tier “AA” ratings for our 2025 special revenue bonds. Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings affirmed an “AA+” rating.

A city’s bond rating is a measure of its credit quality, which is the ability to pay a bond’s principal and interest in a timely fashion. A higher bond rating generally means the city can borrow at a lower interest rate, saving taxpayers millions of dollars in the process.

“We are grateful that S&P and Kroll have joined Fitch in recognizing the significant progress our city is making,” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. “This year’s ratings mark the second year in a row that we have received top tier ratings for this critical bond issuance that supports our infrastructure projects. It exemplifies Jacksonville’s strong financial health and reflects on what’s possible when we combine bold ideas with fiscal responsibility to move our city forward.”

The ratings reflect Jacksonville’s solid financial track record, healthy reserves, strong and diverse economy, fast population growth, and significant military presence. The City’s focus on permitting, downtown development, and climate resilience were also contributing factors.

Highlights from the S&P Global report include:

“The ‘AA’ rating reflects Jacksonville’s robust and diverse economy that continues to strengthen through healthy employment gains and investment coming to the city, along with an already significant military presence. The city, located in Duval County, is the economic engine for the seven-county Northeast Florida region and has seen its population increase by over 15% in the last decade. … Economic output continues to outpace the national rate and provides additional support to the rating. The economic growth in conjunction with the city’s comprehensive financial policies fiscally responsible management “has resulted in several years of positive operating performances and healthy reserve levels.”

“Broad and expanding tax base, with economic output above the national average and steady population growth. Property valuation growth, steady building permits, and notable development projects are contributing to the city’s strong assessed value growth. Robust private investment and employment gains will likely contribute to further growth in the tax and employment bases in the near term. Proactive and sophisticated financial policies and practices, demonstrated by well-rounded budgeting practices, general fund forecasting and long-term capital planning.”

“The city is working to address immediate and long-term climate and weather-related risks, for example, by adding staff to its resilience team and participating in the Storm Resiliency and Infrastructure Development Review Committee. We understand that Jacksonville has taken steps to buy out certain parcels in flood-prone areas in recent years. … According to officials, the city continues to implement the Resilient Jacksonville strategy, which includes a commitment to risk-informed land use decisions.”

The KRBA report also noted that Jacksonville has an excellent economic base, population growth rate, and demographic makeup; an exceptional budget and appropriation process; and ideal management structure, budget practices, and policies. They also noted that the City’s reserves “far exceed the City’s Reserve Policy targets of 5–7% for operating reserves and 7–10% for emergency reserves, providing a substantial cushion above the minimums and underscoring the City’s strong commitment to financial resilience.”

The City of Jacksonville is pleased to announce that Fitch Ratings has assigned another top tier “AA+” rating for our 2025 special revenue bonds.

A city’s bond rating is a measure of its credit quality, which is the ability to pay a bond’s principal and interest in a timely fashion. A higher bond rating generally means the city can borrow at a lower interest rate, saving taxpayers millions of dollars in the process.

This rating reflects Jacksonville’s solid financial track record and the expectations that available reserves will equal at least 10% of spending on a sustained basis. The rating is also attributed to the city’s population trends, unemployment metrics, and role as an economic anchor for Northeast Florida.

“We are grateful that Fitch recognizes the significant progress our city is making,” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. “This year’s rating marks the second year in a row that we have received an AA+ rating for this critical bond that supports our infrastructure projects. It exemplifies Jacksonville’s strong financial health and reflects on what’s possible when we combine bold ideas with fiscal responsibility to move our city forward.”

1. Fitch noted Jacksonville’s fast population growth. Based on the median of 10-year annual percentage change in population, Fitch rated Jacksonville’s population trend as “Strong.” In other words, the city’s population is of sufficient size and the economy is diversified enough to qualify for their highest overall size/diversification category.

2. Fitch highlighted the city’s low unemployment. According to the latest job report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jacksonville’s 3.6% unemployment rate is below the state and national average.

3. Fitch believes that Jacksonville anchors the Northeast Florida economy. They provided multiple examples:

1. • Jacksonville has a large and expanding healthcare industry, with UF expanding its investment in the city not only in healthcare, but also in a graduate campus that will offer degrees in AI, engineering, biomedical and computer sciences.
   • Jacksonville International Airport and the Jacksonville Port Authority facilitate connectivity with Latin America, the Caribbean, and other global markets.
   • NAS Jacksonville and NAS Mayport collectively employ 41,000 active-duty and civilian workers.

Additionally, Fitch upgraded the outstanding Better Jacksonville sales tax revenue bonds from “AA-“ to “A+,” and affirmed an “AA+:” rating for four other bond categories.