Buffalo, NY vs Syracuse, NY
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Buffalo spends 8.1% more per capita than Syracuse ($4,524/person difference). Both cities share the same Fiscal Health Score.
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $252 | $383 |
| Income Tax | $898 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $840 | $2,392 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,679 | $1,755 |
| Other | $2,952 | $873 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $306 | $282 |
| Highways & Roads | $432 | $288 |
| Education | $39,263 | $35,942 |
| Public Welfare | $1,112 | $614 |
| Parks & Recreation | $410 | $600 |
| Housing | $3,491 | $3,659 |
| Sewerage | $189 | $317 |
| Utilities | $3,425 | $1,703 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $16 |
| Other | $11,726 | $12,408 |
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.