Syracuse, NY vs Rochester, NY
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Rochester spends 25.7% more per capita than Syracuse ($19,324/person difference). Syracuse, 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 | $383 | $511 |
| Income Tax | $0 | $1,427 |
| Intergovernmental | $2,392 | $3,814 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,755 | $1,993 |
| Other | $873 | $825 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $282 | $293 |
| Highways & Roads | $288 | $379 |
| Education | $35,942 | $42,739 |
| Public Welfare | $614 | $140 |
| Health | $0 | $753 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $764 |
| Parks & Recreation | $600 | $910 |
| Housing | $3,659 | $5,169 |
| Sewerage | $317 | $547 |
| Utilities | $1,703 | $5,082 |
| Interest on Debt | $16 | $215 |
| Other | $12,408 | $18,162 |
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.