Arlington, TX vs Fort Worth, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Fort Worth, TX spends 35% more per resident than Arlington, TX: $15,939 against $11,769. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Arlington, TX holds the stronger Fiscal Health Score, 83/100 (grade A) against 63/100 (grade C) for Fort Worth, TX — a 20-point spread that puts the two in different grade territory.
On debt, Arlington, TX carries the lighter load at $594 per resident versus $1,921 for Fort Worth, TX. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: parks and recreation leads in Arlington, TX at $1,352 per resident and in Fort Worth, TX at $708.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on intergovernmental transfers — 41% of total revenue in Arlington, TX and 15% in Fort Worth, TX.
Summary
Fort Worth spends 26.2% more per capita than Arlington ($4,170/person difference). Arlington, TX has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 83/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $507 | $198 |
| Income Tax | $73 | $851 |
| Intergovernmental | $25,062 | $4,002 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,949 | $3,594 |
| Other | $3,897 | $3,439 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $160 | $156 |
| Highways & Roads | $149 | $317 |
| Public Welfare | $826 | $869 |
| Health | $219 | $235 |
| Hospitals | $152 | $1,680 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,352 | $708 |
| Housing | $2,981 | $4,217 |
| Sewerage | $141 | $267 |
| Utilities | $1,385 | $2,674 |
| Other | $4,404 | $4,817 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.