Des Moines, IA vs Iowa City, IA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Iowa City spends 92.1% more per capita than Des Moines ($15,148/person difference). Iowa City, IA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 62/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $14 |
| Sales Tax | $8 | $833 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $1,549 |
| Intergovernmental | $0 | $1,216 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $1,499 |
| Other | $38 | $2,188 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $134 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $55 | $461 |
| Highways & Roads | $3 | $112 |
| Education | $1 | $57 |
| Public Welfare | $388 | $1,285 |
| Health | $8 | $965 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $2,408 |
| Parks & Recreation | $0 | $1,165 |
| Housing | $164 | $1,963 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $270 |
| Utilities | $0 | $2,351 |
| Interest on Debt | $1 | $1,144 |
| Other | $547 | $4,268 |
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.