Austin, TX vs Houston, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Austin, TX spends 51% more per resident than Houston, TX: $21,772 against $14,400. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Houston, TX holds the stronger Fiscal Health Score, 83/100 (grade A) against 75/100 (grade B) for Austin, TX — a 8-point spread that puts the two in different grade territory.
On debt, Houston, TX carries the lighter load at $863 per resident versus $1,229 for Austin, TX. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: parks and recreation leads in Austin, TX at $1,801 per resident and in Houston, TX at $361.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Austin, TX at 18% of total revenue, whereas Houston, TX relies most on other revenue at 7%.
Summary
Austin spends 51.2% more per capita than Houston ($7,372/person difference). Houston, TX has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 83/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $526 | $181 |
| Income Tax | $1,465 | $39 |
| Intergovernmental | $14,031 | $33 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,247 | $3,475 |
| Other | $5,645 | $3,960 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $634 | $295 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $175 |
| Education | $51 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,837 | $533 |
| Health | $517 | $210 |
| Hospitals | $664 | $511 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,801 | $361 |
| Housing | $3,741 | $4,288 |
| Sewerage | $865 | $386 |
| Utilities | $3,264 | $1,339 |
| Other | $8,399 | $6,301 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.