Arlington, VA vs Roanoke, VA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Arlington spends 79.8% more per capita than Roanoke ($30,720/person difference). Roanoke, VA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 59/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $27 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $554 | $472 |
| Income Tax | $466 | $386 |
| Intergovernmental | $4,733 | $1,358 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,576 | $0 |
| Other | $5,381 | $2,424 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $2,158 | $1,543 |
| Fire Protection | $694 | $235 |
| Highways & Roads | $780 | $1,357 |
| Education | $28,519 | $18,609 |
| Public Welfare | $3,283 | $0 |
| Health | $851 | $573 |
| Hospitals | $2,783 | $511 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,793 | $950 |
| Housing | $4,402 | $2,054 |
| Sewerage | $57 | $112 |
| Utilities | $9,221 | $3,633 |
| Other | $13,692 | $8,936 |
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.