Waterloo, IA vs Cedar Rapids, IA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Cedar Rapids spends 25.7% more per capita than Waterloo ($6,171/person difference). Waterloo, IA 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 | $59 | $8 |
| Sales Tax | $677 | $2,450 |
| Income Tax | $920 | $1,513 |
| Intergovernmental | $2,021 | $5,898 |
| Charges & Fees | $1,614 | $3,261 |
| Other | $3,969 | $4,807 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $223 | $466 |
| Highways & Roads | $108 | $102 |
| Education | $10 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $2,637 | $1,987 |
| Health | $431 | $567 |
| Hospitals | $1,864 | $612 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,325 | $1,165 |
| Housing | $3,169 | $4,126 |
| Sewerage | $205 | $314 |
| Utilities | $1,874 | $4,004 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $737 |
| Other | $5,957 | $9,894 |
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.