Rockford, IL vs Joliet, IL
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Rockford spends 3.6% more per capita than Joliet ($673/person difference). Rockford, IL has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 59/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $749 | $323 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $1,006 |
| Intergovernmental | $6,178 | $12,066 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,152 | $2,156 |
| Other | $2,314 | $3,429 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $0 | $208 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $165 |
| Public Welfare | $724 | $2,118 |
| Health | $593 | $450 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $485 |
| Parks & Recreation | $2,329 | $459 |
| Housing | $4,267 | $3,292 |
| Sewerage | $0 | $94 |
| Utilities | $1,320 | $3,400 |
| Other | $10,115 | $8,005 |
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.