Buffalo, NY vs Albany, NY
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Buffalo, NY spends 30% more per resident than Albany, NY: $60,354 against $46,595. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Albany, NY edges Buffalo, NY on the Fiscal Health Score by 6 points — 63/100 (grade C) to 57/100 (grade C). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.
Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Buffalo, NY leads with education at $39,263 per resident, while Albany, NY leads with police at $3,815.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on other revenue — 22% of total revenue in Buffalo, NY and 22% in Albany, NY.
Summary
Buffalo spends 29.5% more per capita than Albany ($13,759/person difference). Albany, NY has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 63/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $252 | $1,242 |
| Income Tax | $898 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $840 | $3,947 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,679 | $0 |
| Other | $2,952 | $6,604 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $3,815 |
| Fire Protection | $306 | $558 |
| Highways & Roads | $432 | $391 |
| Education | $39,263 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,112 | $1,363 |
| Health | $0 | $91 |
| Parks & Recreation | $410 | $663 |
| Housing | $3,491 | $2,042 |
| Sewerage | $189 | $0 |
| Utilities | $3,425 | $13,046 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $88 |
| Other | $11,726 | $24,538 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.