Houston, TX vs Arlington, TX
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Houston, TX spends 22% more per resident than Arlington, TX: $14,400 against $11,769. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
On the CitySpend Fiscal Health Score the two are level: Houston, TX and Arlington, TX both land at 83/100 (grade A and A respectively), so the deciding factors sit in the underlying six-factor breakdown rather than the rolled-up grade.
On debt, Arlington, TX carries the lighter load at $594 per resident versus $863 for Houston, TX. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: parks and recreation leads in Houston, TX at $361 per resident and in Arlington, TX at $1,352.
They also fund themselves differently: other revenue is the largest single revenue source in Houston, TX at 7% of total revenue, whereas Arlington, TX relies most on intergovernmental transfers at 41%.
Summary
Houston spends 22.4% more per capita than Arlington ($2,631/person difference). Both cities share the same Fiscal Health Score.
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $181 | $507 |
| Income Tax | $39 | $73 |
| Intergovernmental | $33 | $25,062 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,475 | $2,949 |
| Other | $3,960 | $3,897 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $295 | $160 |
| Highways & Roads | $175 | $149 |
| Public Welfare | $533 | $826 |
| Health | $210 | $219 |
| Hospitals | $511 | $152 |
| Parks & Recreation | $361 | $1,352 |
| Housing | $4,288 | $2,981 |
| Sewerage | $386 | $141 |
| Utilities | $1,339 | $1,385 |
| Other | $6,301 | $4,404 |
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Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.