Durham, NC vs Winston-Salem, NC

Durham, NC outspends Winston-Salem, NC by a wide margin per resident — $31,264 versus $12,544, a 149% difference. A gap this size usually reflects a structurally different service mix or accounting scope rather than a single line item.

Winston-Salem, NC holds the stronger Fiscal Health Score, 89/100 (grade A) against 66/100 (grade B) for Durham, NC — a 23-point spread that puts the two in different grade territory.

Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Durham, NC leads with education at $17,100 per resident, while Winston-Salem, NC leads with parks and recreation at $801.

They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Durham, NC at 39% of total revenue, whereas Winston-Salem, NC relies most on other revenue at 9%.