Fort Smith, AR vs Jonesboro, AR
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Fort Smith spends 54.8% more per capita than Jonesboro ($4,959/person difference). Fort Smith, AR has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 69/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $25 |
| Sales Tax | $143 | $97 |
| Income Tax | $2,263 | $12 |
| Intergovernmental | $40 | $4,523 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,270 | $1,640 |
| Other | $3,396 | $1,377 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $295 | $80 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $121 |
| Education | $0 | $42 |
| Public Welfare | $788 | $632 |
| Health | $375 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $185 | $108 |
| Parks & Recreation | $549 | $523 |
| Housing | $2,224 | $2,058 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $122 |
| Utilities | $4,214 | $1,520 |
| Interest on Debt | $291 | $191 |
| Other | $5,094 | $3,659 |
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.