El Paso, TX vs Seattle, WA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Seattle spends 29.6% more per capita than El Paso ($10,204/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 | $1,831 |
| Sales Tax | $65 | $1,094 |
| Income Tax | $12 | $3,496 |
| Intergovernmental | $690 | $9,846 |
| Charges & Fees | $31 | $3,960 |
| Other | $550 | $8,544 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,159 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $233 | $210 |
| Highways & Roads | $83 | $0 |
| Education | $0 | $1,461 |
| Public Welfare | $299 | $3,439 |
| Health | $0 | $1,131 |
| Hospitals | $11 | $1,871 |
| Parks & Recreation | $151 | $3,923 |
| Housing | $958 | $3,727 |
| Sewerage | $6 | $952 |
| Utilities | $224 | $6,489 |
| Interest on Debt | $40 | $0 |
| General Admin | $17,951 | $0 |
| Other | $3,145 | $11,260 |
Compare More Cities
The side-by-side above pulls the the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.