At first glance, the comparison sounds absurd.
Philadelphia — one of America’s largest cities — spends nearly $900 million annually on police. Kutztown Borough is a small Pennsylvania town with roughly 4,100 permanent residents, a few blocks of Main Street, and more public drunkenness citations than violent crime headlines.
But once you stop looking at raw dollars and start looking at proportions, a strange picture begins to emerge. Kutztown Borough actually devotes a larger share of its municipal budget to policing than Philadelphia does.
Kutztown’s Police Budget for 2026
Here is a breakdown of the Kutztown Police Department budget according to the Kutztown Borough’s official 2026 Budget.
| Category | 2026 Total |
| Police General | ~$2,602,442 |
| Police Vehicles | ~$32,089 |
| Police Headquarters | ~$23,552 |
| Police Training | ~$12,178 |
| Total Police-Related Spending | ~$2,670,260 |
Philadelphia vs. Kutztown: Public Safety & Police Breakdown
When we compare the share of each municipality’s budget devoted to police and public safety operations, the gap becomes surprisingly large.
This comparison does not suggest Kutztown is more “dangerous” than Philadelphia (we could talk about how media narratives shape perceptions of Philadelphia and the people who live there, but save that for another day).
Rather, the numbers illustrate how policing and public safety infrastructure can consume a disproportionately large share of small municipal budgets.
| Metric | Philadelphia | Kutztown Borough |
| Total municipal budget | ~$6.8B | ~$6.9M |
| Police/public safety budget | ~$872M | ~$2.67M |
| Police share of municipal budget | ~13% | ~38.7% |
| Permanent population | ~1.57M | 4,162 (2020 Census) |
| Sworn/local police officers | ~5,220 | 12 |
| Police per 1,000 permanent residents | ~3.3 | ~2.88 |
| Approx. police spending per permanent resident | ~$555/person | ~$642/person |
Kutztown University Public Safety
The Kutztown University Public Safety Department is separate from the borough police department and employs approximately 16 full-time commissioned police officers serving the campus environment.
KU’s public safety spending is buried inside broader PASSHE operational categories rather than shown as a standalone “police budget” line item. The estimate below is derived from staffing levels, PASSHE compensation norms, and operational costs.
| Metric | KU Estimate |
| University operating budget | ~$129.6M |
| Estimated KU public safety/police spending | ~$2.5–3.5M |
| Full-time commissioned officers | 16 |
| Student population | 7,367 |
| Estimated public safety spending per student | ~$339–475/student |
| Public safety personnel per 1,000 students | ~2.17 |
Combined Kutztown Area (University and Borough)
If you combine:
- Borough Police
- KU Public Safety
…you get an approximate policing footprint of:
| Combined Kutztown Area Stats | Estimate |
| Borough population | 4,162 |
| KU student population | 7,367 |
| Effective total population environment | 11,529 |
| Borough police officers | 12 |
| KU commissioned officers | 16 |
| Combined officers | 28 |
| Combined policing/public safety spending | ~$5.17–6.17M |
| Combined personnel per 1,000 people | ~2.43 |
| Combined spending per person | ~$448–535/person |
What the Numbers Suggest
- Kutztown Borough alone spends a significantly larger share of its municipal budget on police/public safety operations than Philadelphia.
- Once KU public safety is included, Kutztown’s broader policing apparatus becomes far larger — and more expensive — than most residents probably realize.
- The real Kutztown public safety footprint is partially hidden because it is split across:
- borough government,
- PASSHE/KU accounting,
- county courts and jails,
- and state systems.
Taken together, a town of just 4,162 permanent residents sustains:
- 12 borough police officers,
- 16 university police officers,
- and an estimated $5.17–6.17 million combined policing/public safety apparatus.
