Elizabeth, NJ vs Paterson, NJ
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Elizabeth spends 30.8% more per capita than Paterson ($4,957/person difference). Paterson, NJ has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 64/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $17 |
| Sales Tax | $528 | $450 |
| Income Tax | $24 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $1,021 | $6,517 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,319 | $0 |
| Other | $0 | $1,614 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $437 | $142 |
| Highways & Roads | $599 | $168 |
| Public Welfare | $225 | $294 |
| Health | $332 | $138 |
| Hospitals | $3,386 | $2,937 |
| Parks & Recreation | $980 | $349 |
| Housing | $3,768 | $2,861 |
| Sewerage | $178 | $1 |
| Utilities | $928 | $71 |
| Other | $10,234 | $9,148 |
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.