Alexandria, VA vs Arlington, VA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Arlington spends 16.2% more per capita than Alexandria ($11,239/person difference). Arlington, VA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 58/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $38 | $27 |
| Sales Tax | $729 | $554 |
| Income Tax | $603 | $466 |
| Intergovernmental | $15,384 | $4,733 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $2,576 |
| Other | $6,522 | $5,381 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,312 | $2,158 |
| Fire Protection | $848 | $694 |
| Highways & Roads | $675 | $780 |
| Education | $22,295 | $28,519 |
| Public Welfare | $1,976 | $3,283 |
| Health | $541 | $851 |
| Hospitals | $3,274 | $2,783 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,244 | $2,793 |
| Housing | $4,894 | $4,402 |
| Sewerage | $615 | $57 |
| Utilities | $4,795 | $9,221 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,752 | $0 |
| Other | $12,773 | $13,692 |
Compare More Cities
The side-by-side above pulls the the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.