West Des Moines, IA vs Council Bluffs, IA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Council Bluffs spends 16.3% more per capita than West Des Moines ($2,883/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 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $677 | $234 |
| Income Tax | $355 | $1,036 |
| Intergovernmental | $16,920 | $383 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,669 | $2,374 |
| Other | $3,239 | $3,427 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $240 | $850 |
| Highways & Roads | $49 | $373 |
| Education | $3 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,500 | $1,494 |
| Health | $615 | $562 |
| Hospitals | $290 | $138 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,257 | $1,587 |
| Housing | $2,213 | $3,385 |
| Sewerage | $194 | $181 |
| Utilities | $669 | $3,119 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $278 |
| Other | $7,750 | $5,695 |
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.