Lawrence, KS vs Shawnee, KS
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Lawrence spends 162.1% more per capita than Shawnee ($31,274/person difference). Shawnee, KS has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 66/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $452 | $366 |
| Income Tax | $1,646 | $2,215 |
| Intergovernmental | $610 | $2,994 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,976 | $0 |
| Other | $5,396 | $966 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $2,908 |
| Fire Protection | $701 | $1,248 |
| Highways & Roads | $152 | $10 |
| Education | $50 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,409 | $1,126 |
| Health | $528 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $201 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,334 | $3,095 |
| Housing | $2,611 | $3,109 |
| Utilities | $3,966 | $2,387 |
| Interest on Debt | $301 | $0 |
| General Admin | $32,300 | $0 |
| Other | $7,016 | $5,414 |
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.