Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), GA vs Sandy Springs, GA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) spends 128.6% more per capita than Sandy Springs ($11,613/person difference). Sandy Springs, GA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 80/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $35 | $13 |
| Sales Tax | $1,045 | $394 |
| Income Tax | $715 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $2,956 | $22,054 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,578 | $0 |
| Other | $6,437 | $567 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,372 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $771 | $512 |
| Highways & Roads | $459 | $605 |
| Public Welfare | $508 | $1,241 |
| Health | $722 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,332 | $896 |
| Housing | $2,708 | $2,400 |
| Sewerage | $183 | $0 |
| Utilities | $2,250 | $0 |
| Other | $9,338 | $3,375 |
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.