Syracuse, NY vs Albany, NY
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Syracuse, NY spends 20% more per resident than Albany, NY: $55,830 against $46,595. That gap is large enough to show up across most functional budget categories below.
Albany, NY edges Syracuse, NY on the Fiscal Health Score by 6 points — 63/100 (grade C) to 57/100 (grade C). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.
Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Their budgets diverge on where the largest per-resident dollars go: Syracuse, NY leads with education at $35,942 per resident, while Albany, NY leads with police at $3,815.
They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Syracuse, NY at 17% of total revenue, whereas Albany, NY relies most on other revenue at 22%.
Summary
Syracuse spends 19.8% more per capita than Albany ($9,235/person difference). Albany, NY has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 63/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $383 | $1,242 |
| Intergovernmental | $2,392 | $3,947 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,755 | $0 |
| Other | $873 | $6,604 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $3,815 |
| Fire Protection | $282 | $558 |
| Highways & Roads | $288 | $391 |
| Education | $35,942 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $614 | $1,363 |
| Health | $0 | $91 |
| Parks & Recreation | $600 | $663 |
| Housing | $3,659 | $2,042 |
| Sewerage | $317 | $0 |
| Utilities | $1,703 | $13,046 |
| Interest on Debt | $16 | $88 |
| Other | $12,408 | $24,538 |
Compare More Cities
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.