Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), GA vs Columbus, GA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) spends 33.0% more per capita than Columbus ($5,120/person difference). Columbus, GA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 82/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $35 | $64 |
| Sales Tax | $1,045 | $315 |
| Income Tax | $715 | $688 |
| Intergovernmental | $2,956 | $792 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,578 | $2,259 |
| Other | $6,437 | $3,202 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,372 | $1,611 |
| Fire Protection | $771 | $699 |
| Highways & Roads | $459 | $443 |
| Education | $0 | $21 |
| Public Welfare | $508 | $1,247 |
| Health | $722 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $170 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,332 | $669 |
| Housing | $2,708 | $2,701 |
| Sewerage | $183 | $66 |
| Utilities | $2,250 | $1,989 |
| Other | $9,338 | $5,907 |
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.