Cedar Rapids, IA vs Des Moines, IA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Cedar Rapids spends 1741.9% more per capita than Des Moines ($22,672/person difference). Des Moines, IA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 55/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $8 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $2,450 | $8 |
| Income Tax | $1,513 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $5,898 | $0 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,261 | $0 |
| Other | $4,807 | $38 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $134 |
| Fire Protection | $466 | $55 |
| Highways & Roads | $102 | $3 |
| Education | $0 | $1 |
| Public Welfare | $1,987 | $388 |
| Health | $567 | $8 |
| Hospitals | $612 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,165 | $0 |
| Housing | $4,126 | $164 |
| Sewerage | $314 | $0 |
| Utilities | $4,004 | $0 |
| Interest on Debt | $737 | $1 |
| Other | $9,894 | $547 |
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.