South Bend, IN vs Gary, IN
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
South Bend spends 63.7% more per capita than Gary ($13,894/person difference). Gary, IN has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 71/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $10 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $759 | $46 |
| Income Tax | $955 | $64 |
| Intergovernmental | $18,281 | $30,129 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,775 | $0 |
| Other | $6,625 | $10,510 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $2,100 | $231 |
| Highways & Roads | $2 | $210 |
| Public Welfare | $1,509 | $886 |
| Hospitals | $800 | $721 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,973 | $358 |
| Housing | $2,520 | $2,936 |
| Sewerage | $348 | $0 |
| Utilities | $1,910 | $113 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,088 | $846 |
| Other | $23,468 | $15,525 |
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.