Hartford, CT vs Waterbury, CT
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Hartford spends 38.3% more per capita than Waterbury ($21,234/person difference). Hartford, CT has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 58/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $1,103 | $251 |
| Income Tax | $9 | $3 |
| Intergovernmental | $10,322 | $42,242 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $1,249 |
| Other | $739 | $2,485 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $384 | $2,439 |
| Education | $39,340 | $33,920 |
| Public Welfare | $1,535 | $1,768 |
| Health | $1,038 | $173 |
| Hospitals | $5,508 | $313 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,661 | $161 |
| Housing | $4,670 | $3,627 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $74 |
| Utilities | $298 | $869 |
| Other | $22,228 | $12,083 |
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.