El Paso, TX vs Chicago, IL
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Chicago, IL spends 42% more per resident than El Paso, TX: $34,551 against $24,259. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
On the CitySpend Fiscal Health Score the two are level: El Paso, TX and Chicago, IL both land at 61/100 (grade C and C respectively), so the deciding factors sit in the underlying six-factor breakdown rather than the rolled-up grade.
El Paso, TX reports no outstanding debt per resident in its Census filing, while Chicago, IL carries $977 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 Chicago, IL leads with fire protection at $10,754.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on intergovernmental transfers — 10% of total revenue in El Paso, TX and 100% in Chicago, IL.
Summary
Chicago spends 29.8% more per capita than El Paso ($10,292/person difference). Both cities share the same Fiscal Health Score.
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $26 |
| Sales Tax | $65 | $74 |
| Income Tax | $12 | $229 |
| Intergovernmental | $690 | $85,083 |
| Charges & Fees | $31 | $2,847 |
| Other | $550 | $3,463 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,159 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $233 | $10,754 |
| Highways & Roads | $83 | $930 |
| Public Welfare | $299 | $1,858 |
| Health | $0 | $426 |
| Hospitals | $11 | $1,444 |
| Parks & Recreation | $151 | $122 |
| Housing | $958 | $6,520 |
| Sewerage | $6 | $129 |
| Utilities | $224 | $2,983 |
| Interest on Debt | $40 | $0 |
| General Admin | $17,951 | $0 |
| Other | $3,145 | $9,385 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.