Atlanta, GA vs Houston, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Atlanta spends 76.8% more per capita than Houston ($11,057/person difference). Atlanta, GA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 85/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $419 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $0 | $181 |
| Income Tax | $1,292 | $39 |
| Intergovernmental | $9,121 | $33 |
| Charges & Fees | $5,645 | $3,475 |
| Other | $5,461 | $3,960 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $315 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $464 | $295 |
| Highways & Roads | $513 | $175 |
| Education | $25 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,587 | $533 |
| Health | $0 | $210 |
| Hospitals | $55 | $511 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,274 | $361 |
| Housing | $4,594 | $4,288 |
| Sewerage | $343 | $386 |
| Utilities | $8,026 | $1,339 |
| Other | $8,262 | $6,301 |
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.