Huntsville, AL vs Decatur, AL
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Decatur spends 6.7% more per capita than Huntsville ($1,153/person difference). Huntsville, AL 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 | $855 |
| Sales Tax | $833 | $975 |
| Income Tax | $656 | $1,360 |
| Intergovernmental | $4,511 | $37,427 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,558 | $2,804 |
| Other | $2,647 | $4,387 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $637 | $254 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $95 |
| Education | $60 | $43 |
| Public Welfare | $708 | $1,023 |
| Health | $354 | $66 |
| Hospitals | $692 | $1,729 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,600 | $2,612 |
| Housing | $2,611 | $2,549 |
| Sewerage | $136 | $164 |
| Utilities | $2,983 | $3,362 |
| Other | $6,253 | $5,289 |
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.