West Des Moines, IA vs Cedar Rapids, IA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Cedar Rapids spends 38.4% more per capita than West Des Moines ($9,194/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 | $24 | $8 |
| Sales Tax | $677 | $2,450 |
| Income Tax | $355 | $1,513 |
| Intergovernmental | $16,920 | $5,898 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,669 | $3,261 |
| Other | $3,239 | $4,807 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $240 | $466 |
| Highways & Roads | $49 | $102 |
| Education | $3 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,500 | $1,987 |
| Health | $615 | $567 |
| Hospitals | $290 | $612 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,257 | $1,165 |
| Housing | $2,213 | $4,126 |
| Sewerage | $194 | $314 |
| Utilities | $669 | $4,004 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $737 |
| Other | $7,750 | $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.