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Data from U.S. Census Bureau · 2026 · Methodology
CitySpend

Waterloo, IA

Population: 67,256 (2022) · Small Cities (50K-100K)

B
71/100

Good fiscal health, above-average across most metrics

Total Spending
$1.2B
Per Capita
$17,802
Total Revenue
$1.6B
Total Debt
$40.7M

Spending Breakdown

Other
33.5%$400.6M
Housing & Community Development
17.8%$213.1M
Public Welfare
14.8%$177.3M
Utilities
10.5%$126.0M
Hospitals
10.5%$125.3M
Parks & Recreation
7.4%$89.1M
Health
2.4%$29.0M
Fire Protection
1.3%$15.0M
Sewerage
1.2%$13.8M
Highways & Roads
0.6%$7.3M
Education
0.1%$702K

Spending data sourced from the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances. Per-capita comparisons use the Lincoln Institute's Fiscally Standardized Cities methodology for fair cross-city benchmarking.

Revenue Sources

Property Tax
0.3%$4.0M
Sales Tax
2.9%$45.5M
Income Tax
3.9%$61.9M
Intergovernmental
8.6%$135.9M
Charges & Fees
6.9%$108.6M
Other
16.9%$266.9M

Per Capita Spending by Department

Fire Protection$223/person
Highways & Roads$108/person
Parks & Recreation$1,325/person
Education$10/person
Health$431/person

Score Breakdown

Budget Balance & Reserves (25%)100/100
Debt Burden (20%)28/100
Pension Funding (20%)76/100
Spending Efficiency (15%)65/100
Revenue Diversity (10%)100/100
Trend Direction (10%)50/100

Debt Overview

Total Debt$40.7M
Long-Term Debt$0
Debt Per Capita$605
Cash & Securities$31.8M

Compare Cities

See how Waterloo stacks up against another city.

vs Des Moines, IAvs Cedar Rapids, IAvs Davenport, IA
Data source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (2023). Population from American Community Survey.

Other Cities in Iowa

Frequently Asked Questions

Waterloo, IA spends $17,802 per resident, based on total expenditures of $1.2B for a population of 67,256. The city has a Fiscal Health Score of B (71/100).

Waterloo, IA has total expenditures of $1.2B and total revenue of $1.6B. The city carries $40.7M in total debt, based on Census Bureau data from 2023.

Waterloo, IA employs 0 government workers, of which 0 are full-time. The average government salary is $0, with 0.0 employees per 10,000 residents.

Waterloo, IA has a Fiscal Health Score of B (71/100). This score evaluates budget balance, debt burden, pension funding, spending efficiency, revenue diversity, and 3-year fiscal trajectory compared to peer cities of similar population.

The this entity record above pulls directly from the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. municipal and county government finances distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.

Every number on this page links back to the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.

For readers using this page as a decision input, the related-entity pages elsewhere on the site provide the comparison set. The most useful comparison for this entity is typically a peer within U.S. cities, counties, and states with similar size, similar exposure, or similar geography — not the national-level summary alone.