West Des Moines, IA vs Ames, IA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Ames spends 67.1% more per capita than West Des Moines ($30,136/person difference). West Des Moines, IA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (C, 53/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $24 | $5 |
| Sales Tax | $677 | $413 |
| Income Tax | $355 | $648 |
| Intergovernmental | $16,920 | $3,359 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,669 | $1,979 |
| Other | $3,239 | $2,187 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $240 | $155 |
| Highways & Roads | $49 | $61 |
| Education | $3 | $41 |
| Public Welfare | $1,500 | $3,950 |
| Health | $615 | $765 |
| Hospitals | $290 | $83 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,257 | $648 |
| Housing | $2,213 | $1,535 |
| Sewerage | $194 | $268 |
| Utilities | $669 | $2,103 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $1,924 |
| General Admin | $0 | $30,834 |
| Other | $7,750 | $2,548 |
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.