Lafayette, LA vs New Orleans, LA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
New Orleans spends 9.0% more per capita than Lafayette ($2,956/person difference). New Orleans, LA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 52/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $62 |
| Sales Tax | $1,778 | $327 |
| Income Tax | $1,580 | $993 |
| Intergovernmental | $956 | $3,013 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,527 | $3,241 |
| Other | $3,792 | $5,501 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $615 | $0 |
| Fire Protection | $1,967 | $1,044 |
| Highways & Roads | $355 | $271 |
| Education | $1,758 | $951 |
| Public Welfare | $1,573 | $1,197 |
| Health | $851 | $507 |
| Hospitals | $1,440 | $5,002 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,923 | $966 |
| Housing | $8,621 | $4,479 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $161 |
| Utilities | $3,202 | $4,300 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,013 | $0 |
| General Admin | $0 | $1,865 |
| Other | $6,711 | $12,243 |
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.