El Paso, TX vs Fort Worth, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
El Paso, TX spends 52% more per resident than Fort Worth, TX: $24,259 against $15,939. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Fort Worth, TX 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 Fort Worth, TX carries $1,921 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 Fort Worth, TX leads with parks and recreation at $708.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on intergovernmental transfers — 10% of total revenue in El Paso, TX and 15% in Fort Worth, TX.
Summary
El Paso spends 52.2% more per capita than Fort Worth ($8,320/person difference). Fort Worth, TX 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 | $198 |
| Income Tax | $12 | $851 |
| Intergovernmental | $690 | $4,002 |
| Charges & Fees | $31 | $3,594 |
| Other | $550 | $3,439 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,159 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $233 | $156 |
| Highways & Roads | $83 | $317 |
| Public Welfare | $299 | $869 |
| Health | $0 | $235 |
| Hospitals | $11 | $1,680 |
| Parks & Recreation | $151 | $708 |
| Housing | $958 | $4,217 |
| Sewerage | $6 | $267 |
| Utilities | $224 | $2,674 |
| Interest on Debt | $40 | $0 |
| General Admin | $17,951 | $0 |
| Other | $3,145 | $4,817 |
Compare More Cities
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.