Fort Worth, TX vs El Paso, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
El Paso, TX spends 52% more per resident than Fort Worth, TX: $24,259 against $15,939. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Fort Worth, TX edges El Paso, TX on the Fiscal Health Score by 2 points — 63/100 (grade C) to 61/100 (grade C). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.
El Paso, TX reports no outstanding debt per resident in its Census filing, while Fort Worth, TX carries $1,921 per resident. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Fort Worth, TX leads with parks and recreation at $708 per resident, while El Paso, TX leads with police at $1,159.
On the revenue side both lean hardest on intergovernmental transfers — 15% of total revenue in Fort Worth, TX and 10% in El Paso, TX.
Summary
El Paso spends 34.3% more per capita than Fort Worth ($8,320/person difference). Fort Worth, TX has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 63/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $198 | $65 |
| Income Tax | $851 | $12 |
| Intergovernmental | $4,002 | $690 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,594 | $31 |
| Other | $3,439 | $550 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $1,159 |
| Fire Protection | $156 | $233 |
| Highways & Roads | $317 | $83 |
| Public Welfare | $869 | $299 |
| Health | $235 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $1,680 | $11 |
| Parks & Recreation | $708 | $151 |
| Housing | $4,217 | $958 |
| Sewerage | $267 | $6 |
| Utilities | $2,674 | $224 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $40 |
| General Admin | $0 | $17,951 |
| Other | $4,817 | $3,145 |
Compare More Cities
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.