Arlington, VA vs Alexandria, VA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Arlington spends 19.4% 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 | $27 | $38 |
| Sales Tax | $554 | $729 |
| Income Tax | $466 | $603 |
| Intergovernmental | $4,733 | $15,384 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,576 | $0 |
| Other | $5,381 | $6,522 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $2,158 | $1,312 |
| Fire Protection | $694 | $848 |
| Highways & Roads | $780 | $675 |
| Education | $28,519 | $22,295 |
| Public Welfare | $3,283 | $1,976 |
| Health | $851 | $541 |
| Hospitals | $2,783 | $3,274 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,793 | $2,244 |
| Housing | $4,402 | $4,894 |
| Sewerage | $57 | $615 |
| Utilities | $9,221 | $4,795 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $1,752 |
| Other | $13,692 | $12,773 |
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.