Richmond, VA vs Arlington, VA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Arlington spends 10.9% more per capita than Richmond ($7,572/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 | $0 | $27 |
| Sales Tax | $930 | $554 |
| Income Tax | $879 | $466 |
| Intergovernmental | $3,985 | $4,733 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,949 | $2,576 |
| Other | $7,690 | $5,381 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $2,108 | $2,158 |
| Fire Protection | $921 | $694 |
| Highways & Roads | $738 | $780 |
| Education | $20,033 | $28,519 |
| Public Welfare | $1,535 | $3,283 |
| Health | $341 | $851 |
| Hospitals | $3,770 | $2,783 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,154 | $2,793 |
| Housing | $5,951 | $4,402 |
| Sewerage | $17 | $57 |
| Utilities | $7,265 | $9,221 |
| Interest on Debt | $3,048 | $0 |
| Other | $14,781 | $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.