Bentonville, AR vs Fort Smith, AR
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Bentonville spends 3.1% more per capita than Fort Smith ($431/person difference). Bentonville, AR has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 73/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $10 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $752 | $143 |
| Income Tax | $1,252 | $2,263 |
| Intergovernmental | $2,248 | $40 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,597 | $3,270 |
| Other | $3,321 | $3,396 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $226 | $295 |
| Public Welfare | $890 | $788 |
| Health | $352 | $375 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $185 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,751 | $549 |
| Housing | $2,628 | $2,224 |
| Sewerage | $177 | $0 |
| Utilities | $3,488 | $4,214 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $291 |
| Other | $4,935 | $5,094 |
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.