Arlington, TX vs Houston, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Houston, TX spends 22% more per resident than Arlington, TX: $14,400 against $11,769. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
On the CitySpend Fiscal Health Score the two are level: Arlington, TX and Houston, TX both land at 83/100 (grade A and A respectively), so the deciding factors sit in the underlying six-factor breakdown rather than the rolled-up grade.
On debt, Arlington, TX carries the lighter load at $594 per resident versus $863 for Houston, 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 Houston, TX at $361.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Arlington, TX at 41% of total revenue, whereas Houston, TX relies most on other revenue at 7%.
Summary
Houston spends 18.3% more per capita than Arlington ($2,631/person difference). Both cities share the same Fiscal Health Score.
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $507 | $181 |
| Income Tax | $73 | $39 |
| Intergovernmental | $25,062 | $33 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,949 | $3,475 |
| Other | $3,897 | $3,960 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $160 | $295 |
| Highways & Roads | $149 | $175 |
| Public Welfare | $826 | $533 |
| Health | $219 | $210 |
| Hospitals | $152 | $511 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,352 | $361 |
| Housing | $2,981 | $4,288 |
| Sewerage | $141 | $386 |
| Utilities | $1,385 | $1,339 |
| Other | $4,404 | $6,301 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.