Chicago, IL vs Atlanta, GA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Chicago spends 35.7% more per capita than Atlanta ($9,094/person difference). Atlanta, GA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 85/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $26 | $419 |
| Sales Tax | $74 | $0 |
| Income Tax | $229 | $1,292 |
| Intergovernmental | $85,083 | $9,121 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,847 | $5,645 |
| Other | $3,463 | $5,461 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $315 |
| Fire Protection | $10,754 | $464 |
| Highways & Roads | $930 | $513 |
| Education | $0 | $25 |
| Public Welfare | $1,858 | $1,587 |
| Health | $426 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $1,444 | $55 |
| Parks & Recreation | $122 | $1,274 |
| Housing | $6,520 | $4,594 |
| Sewerage | $129 | $343 |
| Utilities | $2,983 | $8,026 |
| Other | $9,385 | $8,262 |
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.