Fresno, CA vs Dallas, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Fresno, CA spends 24% more per resident than Dallas, TX: $43,387 against $34,849. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Dallas, TX edges Fresno, CA on the Fiscal Health Score by 7 points — 57/100 (grade C) to 50/100 (grade C). 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. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Fresno, CA leads with education at $3,942 per resident, while Dallas, TX leads with police at $1,519.
They also fund themselves differently: other revenue is the largest single revenue source in Fresno, CA at 19% of total revenue, whereas Dallas, TX relies most on intergovernmental transfers at 22%.
Summary
Fresno spends 24.5% more per capita than Dallas ($8,538/person difference). Dallas, TX has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 57/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $337 | $9 |
| Sales Tax | $19 | $25 |
| Income Tax | $501 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | -$4,470 | $1,223 |
| Charges & Fees | $11 | $0 |
| Other | $2,070 | $584 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $3,261 | $1,519 |
| Fire Protection | $568 | $305 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $201 |
| Education | $3,942 | $62 |
| Public Welfare | $1,946 | $215 |
| Health | $599 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $385 |
| Parks & Recreation | $76 | $0 |
| Housing | $2,856 | $444 |
| Utilities | $15,340 | $833 |
| Interest on Debt | $255 | $0 |
| General Admin | $0 | $25,827 |
| Other | $14,545 | $5,059 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.