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Data from U.S. Census Bureau · 2026 · Methodology
CitySpend

Carmel, IN vs Fishers, IN

Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)

Summary

Carmel spends 137.5% more per capita than Fishers ($9,489/person difference). Fishers, IN has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 84/100).

Fiscal Health Score

City A
Carmel, IN
Pop. 99,453
C
56/100
Budget Balance100
Debt Burden0
Pension Funding76
Spending Efficiency74
Revenue Diversity0
Trend Direction50
City B
Fishers, IN
Pop. 99,041
A
84/100
Budget Balance100
Debt Burden100
Pension Funding76
Spending Efficiency100
Revenue Diversity35
Trend Direction50

Key Metrics

Metric
Carmel
Fishers
Total Spending
$1.6B
$683.4M
Spending / Capita
$16,389
$6,900
Total Revenue
$9.0B
$3.8B
Revenue / Capita
$90,764
$38,212
Total Debt
$84.1M
$0
Debt / Capita
$846
$0
Population
99,453
99,041
Gov Employees / 10K
0.0
0.0
Avg Gov Salary
$0
$0

Per Capita Spending by Department

Fire Protection
Carmel$166
Fishers$330
Highways & Roads
Carmel$354
Fishers$0
Parks & Recreation
Carmel$1,484
Fishers$655

Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)

CarmelFishers
Sales Tax
$1,264
$101
Intergovernmental
$90,764
$23,257
Charges & Fees
$5,500
$0
Other
$2,404
$2,313

Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)

CarmelFishers
Fire Protection
$166
$330
Highways & Roads
$354
$0
Public Welfare
$1,885
$534
Hospitals
$1,121
$0
Parks & Recreation
$1,484
$655
Housing
$2,696
$1,613
Sewerage
$0
$169
Utilities
$1,251
$0
Other
$7,432
$3,599
C
Carmel, IN
Fiscal Health Score: 56/100
Average fiscal health
A
Fishers, IN
Fiscal Health Score: 84/100
Excellent fiscal health

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.