Camden, NJ vs Paterson, NJ
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Camden spends 246.0% more per capita than Paterson ($39,632/person difference). Paterson, NJ has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 64/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $70 | $17 |
| Sales Tax | $90 | $450 |
| Income Tax | $1,040 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $10,075 | $6,517 |
| Other | $2,131 | $1,614 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $5,797 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $840 | $142 |
| Highways & Roads | $155 | $168 |
| Education | $9,407 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,010 | $294 |
| Health | $1,329 | $138 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $2,937 |
| Parks & Recreation | $570 | $349 |
| Housing | $4,700 | $2,861 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $1 |
| Utilities | $4,198 | $71 |
| General Admin | $32 | $0 |
| Other | $27,704 | $9,148 |
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.