Paterson, NJ vs Elizabeth, NJ
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Elizabeth spends 23.5% more per capita than Paterson ($4,957/person difference). Paterson, NJ has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 64/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $17 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $450 | $528 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $24 |
| Intergovernmental | $6,517 | $1,021 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $2,319 |
| Other | $1,614 | $0 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $142 | $437 |
| Highways & Roads | $168 | $599 |
| Public Welfare | $294 | $225 |
| Health | $138 | $332 |
| Hospitals | $2,937 | $3,386 |
| Parks & Recreation | $349 | $980 |
| Housing | $2,861 | $3,768 |
| Sewerage | $1 | $178 |
| Utilities | $71 | $928 |
| Other | $9,148 | $10,234 |
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.