Davenport, IA vs West Des Moines, IA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
West Des Moines spends 3.7% more per capita than Davenport ($544/person difference). Davenport, IA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 90/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $4 | $24 |
| Sales Tax | $966 | $677 |
| Income Tax | $715 | $355 |
| Intergovernmental | $3,345 | $16,920 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $2,669 |
| Other | $3,330 | $3,239 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $275 | $240 |
| Highways & Roads | $212 | $49 |
| Education | $0 | $3 |
| Public Welfare | $1,818 | $1,500 |
| Health | $598 | $615 |
| Hospitals | $924 | $290 |
| Parks & Recreation | $895 | $1,257 |
| Housing | $2,838 | $2,213 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $194 |
| Utilities | $566 | $669 |
| Interest on Debt | $733 | $0 |
| Other | $5,376 | $7,750 |
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.