Erie, PA vs Lancaster, PA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Lancaster spends 15.5% more per capita than Erie ($7,957/person difference). Lancaster, PA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 51/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $0 | $72 |
| Intergovernmental | $3,241 | $24,786 |
| Other | $6,483 | $4,613 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $3,410 | $5,263 |
| Fire Protection | $534 | $4,067 |
| Highways & Roads | $1,399 | $500 |
| Public Welfare | $61 | $24 |
| Health | $788 | $417 |
| Hospitals | $403 | $6,387 |
| Parks & Recreation | $0 | $278 |
| Housing | $0 | $2,619 |
| Sewerage | $76 | $0 |
| Utilities | $21,061 | $7,457 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $76 |
| Other | $15,662 | $24,262 |
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.