St. Joseph, MO vs Independence, MO
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
St. Joseph spends 31.8% more per capita than Independence ($2,597/person difference). Both cities share the same Fiscal Health Score.
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $30 | $1 |
| Sales Tax | $365 | $480 |
| Income Tax | $876 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $14,823 | $38,346 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $2,807 |
| Other | $5,785 | $3,970 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $489 | $39 |
| Public Welfare | $1,015 | $345 |
| Hospitals | $288 | $406 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,000 | $611 |
| Housing | $2,681 | $2,769 |
| Utilities | $416 | $1,599 |
| Interest on Debt | $804 | $0 |
| Other | $4,079 | $2,407 |
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.