El Paso, TX vs Charlotte, NC
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
El Paso, TX spends 53% more per resident than Charlotte, NC: $24,259 against $15,854. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Charlotte, NC edges El Paso, TX on the Fiscal Health Score by 2 points — 63/100 (grade C) to 61/100 (grade C). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.
El Paso, TX reports no outstanding debt per resident in its Census filing, while Charlotte, NC carries $2,690 per resident. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: El Paso, TX leads with police at $1,159 per resident, while Charlotte, NC leads with parks and recreation at $1,571.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in El Paso, TX at 10% of total revenue, whereas Charlotte, NC relies most on other revenue at 10%.
Summary
El Paso spends 53.0% more per capita than Charlotte ($8,405/person difference). Charlotte, NC has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 63/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $65 | $541 |
| Income Tax | $12 | $366 |
| Intergovernmental | $690 | $1,859 |
| Charges & Fees | $31 | $2,459 |
| Other | $550 | $4,866 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,159 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $233 | $463 |
| Highways & Roads | $83 | $41 |
| Public Welfare | $299 | $672 |
| Hospitals | $11 | $1,243 |
| Parks & Recreation | $151 | $1,571 |
| Housing | $958 | $3,944 |
| Sewerage | $6 | $0 |
| Utilities | $224 | $2,244 |
| Interest on Debt | $40 | $2,226 |
| General Admin | $17,951 | $0 |
| Other | $3,145 | $3,448 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.