Las Cruces, NM vs Santa Fe, NM
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Las Cruces spends 11.1% more per capita than Santa Fe ($1,471/person difference). Santa Fe, NM has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 89/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Income Tax | $1,620 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $4,988 | $1,422 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,956 | $0 |
| Other | $2,152 | $2,563 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $2,014 |
| Fire Protection | $532 | $69 |
| Highways & Roads | $103 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $0 | $611 |
| Health | $7 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $147 | $548 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,345 | $386 |
| Housing | $3,118 | $1,643 |
| Utilities | $3,961 | $882 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,024 | $0 |
| General Admin | $0 | $570 |
| Other | $4,470 | $6,513 |
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.