Erie, PA vs Scranton, PA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Erie spends 315.4% more per capita than Scranton ($32,948/person difference). Scranton, PA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 83/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $28 |
| Sales Tax | $0 | $3 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $1,114 |
| Intergovernmental | $3,241 | $114 |
| Other | $6,483 | $47 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $3,410 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $534 | $1,029 |
| Highways & Roads | $1,399 | $156 |
| Public Welfare | $61 | $115 |
| Health | $788 | $411 |
| Hospitals | $403 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $0 | $130 |
| Housing | $0 | $3,373 |
| Sewerage | $76 | $0 |
| Utilities | $21,061 | $668 |
| Other | $15,662 | $4,564 |
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.