Fishers, IN vs Fort Wayne, IN
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Fort Wayne, IN spends 53% more per resident than Fishers, IN: $10,590 against $6,900. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Fort Wayne, IN edges Fishers, IN on the Fiscal Health Score by 6 points — 90/100 (grade A) to 84/100 (grade A). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.
Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: parks and recreation leads in Fishers, IN at $655 per resident and in Fort Wayne, IN at $856.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on intergovernmental transfers — 61% of total revenue in Fishers, IN and 27% in Fort Wayne, IN.
Summary
Fort Wayne spends 34.8% more per capita than Fishers ($3,690/person difference). Fort Wayne, IN has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 90/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $28 |
| Sales Tax | $101 | $441 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $584 |
| Intergovernmental | $23,257 | $5,531 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $2,515 |
| Other | $2,313 | $189 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $330 | $423 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $77 |
| Public Welfare | $534 | $1,325 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $944 |
| Parks & Recreation | $655 | $856 |
| Housing | $1,613 | $2,758 |
| Sewerage | $169 | $0 |
| Utilities | $0 | $638 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $546 |
| Other | $3,599 | $3,025 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.