Norfolk, VA vs Arlington, VA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Arlington spends 26.5% more per capita than Norfolk ($18,354/person difference). Arlington, VA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 58/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $97 | $27 |
| Sales Tax | $1,289 | $554 |
| Income Tax | $896 | $466 |
| Intergovernmental | $4,946 | $4,733 |
| Charges & Fees | $4,679 | $2,576 |
| Other | $3,596 | $5,381 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $1,718 | $2,158 |
| Fire Protection | $832 | $694 |
| Highways & Roads | $1,186 | $780 |
| Education | $19,019 | $28,519 |
| Public Welfare | $1,311 | $3,283 |
| Health | $519 | $851 |
| Hospitals | $5,390 | $2,783 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,601 | $2,793 |
| Housing | $3,939 | $4,402 |
| Sewerage | $96 | $57 |
| Utilities | $5,495 | $9,221 |
| Other | $9,773 | $13,692 |
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.