Kansas City, MO vs Independence, MO
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Kansas City spends 179.1% more per capita than Independence ($14,644/person difference). Independence, MO has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 80/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $1 |
| Sales Tax | $623 | $480 |
| Intergovernmental | $7 | $38,346 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,794 | $2,807 |
| Other | $11,150 | $3,970 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $119 | $39 |
| Public Welfare | $3,018 | $345 |
| Hospitals | $1,849 | $406 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,309 | $611 |
| Housing | $4,681 | $2,769 |
| Utilities | $3,123 | $1,599 |
| Other | $8,721 | $2,407 |
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.