Columbia, MO vs Kansas City, MO
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Kansas City spends 39.7% more per capita than Columbia ($9,062/person difference). Columbia, MO has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 71/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $668 | $623 |
| Income Tax | $2,110 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $23,577 | $7 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,293 | $3,794 |
| Other | $2,632 | $11,150 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $355 | $119 |
| Public Welfare | $901 | $3,018 |
| Hospitals | $77 | $1,849 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,099 | $1,309 |
| Housing | $1,692 | $4,681 |
| Utilities | $3,124 | $3,123 |
| Interest on Debt | $419 | $0 |
| Other | $6,091 | $8,721 |
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.