Indianapolis city (balance), IN vs South Bend, IN
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Indianapolis city (balance) spends 28.9% more per capita than South Bend ($10,326/person difference). Indianapolis city (balance), IN has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 74/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $20 | $10 |
| Sales Tax | $178 | $759 |
| Income Tax | $136 | $955 |
| Intergovernmental | $1,312 | $18,281 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,813 | $2,775 |
| Other | $4,675 | $6,625 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $2,032 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $397 | $2,100 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $2 |
| Public Welfare | $1,469 | $1,509 |
| Hospitals | $2,453 | $800 |
| Parks & Recreation | $798 | $1,973 |
| Housing | $2,664 | $2,520 |
| Sewerage | $248 | $348 |
| Utilities | $2,227 | $1,910 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,381 | $1,088 |
| General Admin | $23,227 | $0 |
| Other | $9,149 | $23,468 |
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.