Harrisburg, PA vs Erie, PA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Erie spends 99.8% more per capita than Harrisburg ($43,321/person difference). Harrisburg, PA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 90/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Intergovernmental | -$1,698 | $3,241 |
| Other | $0 | $6,483 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $3,410 |
| Fire Protection | $0 | $534 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $1,399 |
| Public Welfare | $0 | $61 |
| Health | $0 | $788 |
| Hospitals | $73 | $403 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $76 |
| Utilities | $0 | $21,061 |
| Other | $0 | $15,662 |
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.