Iowa City, IA vs Des Moines, IA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Iowa City spends 1163.8% more per capita than Des Moines ($15,148/person difference). Iowa City, IA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 62/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $14 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $833 | $8 |
| Income Tax | $1,549 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $1,216 | $0 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,499 | $0 |
| Other | $2,188 | $38 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $134 |
| Fire Protection | $461 | $55 |
| Highways & Roads | $112 | $3 |
| Education | $57 | $1 |
| Public Welfare | $1,285 | $388 |
| Health | $965 | $8 |
| Hospitals | $2,408 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,165 | $0 |
| Housing | $1,963 | $164 |
| Sewerage | $270 | $0 |
| Utilities | $2,351 | $0 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,144 | $1 |
| Other | $4,268 | $547 |
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.