Macon-Bibb County, GA vs Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), GA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) spends 28.9% more per capita than Macon-Bibb County ($5,964/person difference). Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), GA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 78/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $0 | $35 |
| Sales Tax | $63 | $1,045 |
| Income Tax | $828 | $715 |
| Intergovernmental | $8,434 | $2,956 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $1,578 |
| Other | $1,139 | $6,437 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,334 | $1,372 |
| Fire Protection | $918 | $771 |
| Highways & Roads | $646 | $459 |
| Public Welfare | $552 | $508 |
| Health | $252 | $722 |
| Hospitals | $559 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $659 | $2,332 |
| Housing | $1,875 | $2,708 |
| Sewerage | $141 | $183 |
| Utilities | $1,074 | $2,250 |
| Other | $6,669 | $9,338 |
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.