El Paso, TX vs Dallas, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Dallas, TX spends 44% more per resident than El Paso, TX: $34,849 against $24,259. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
El Paso, TX edges Dallas, TX on the Fiscal Health Score by 4 points — 61/100 (grade C) to 57/100 (grade C). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.
Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: police leads in El Paso, TX at $1,159 per resident and in Dallas, TX at $1,519.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on intergovernmental transfers — 10% of total revenue in El Paso, TX and 22% in Dallas, TX.
Summary
Dallas spends 30.4% more per capita than El Paso ($10,590/person difference). El Paso, TX has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 61/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $9 |
| Sales Tax | $65 | $25 |
| Income Tax | $12 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $690 | $1,223 |
| Charges & Fees | $31 | $0 |
| Other | $550 | $584 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,159 | $1,519 |
| Fire Protection | $233 | $305 |
| Highways & Roads | $83 | $201 |
| Education | $0 | $62 |
| Public Welfare | $299 | $215 |
| Hospitals | $11 | $385 |
| Parks & Recreation | $151 | $0 |
| Housing | $958 | $444 |
| Sewerage | $6 | $0 |
| Utilities | $224 | $833 |
| Interest on Debt | $40 | $0 |
| General Admin | $17,951 | $25,827 |
| Other | $3,145 | $5,059 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.