Rochester, NY vs Buffalo, NY
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Rochester spends 24.5% more per capita than Buffalo ($14,800/person difference). Buffalo, NY has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 57/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $511 | $252 |
| Income Tax | $1,427 | $898 |
| Intergovernmental | $3,814 | $840 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,993 | $1,679 |
| Other | $825 | $2,952 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $293 | $306 |
| Highways & Roads | $379 | $432 |
| Education | $42,739 | $39,263 |
| Public Welfare | $140 | $1,112 |
| Health | $753 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $764 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $910 | $410 |
| Housing | $5,169 | $3,491 |
| Sewerage | $547 | $189 |
| Utilities | $5,082 | $3,425 |
| Interest on Debt | $215 | $0 |
| Other | $18,162 | $11,726 |
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.