Wilmington, NC vs Winston-Salem, NC

Wilmington, NC and Winston-Salem, NC spend within 7.2% of each other per resident — $13,444 versus $12,544 — so on the headline spending-per-capita measure the two cities are effectively neck and neck.

Wilmington, NC edges Winston-Salem, NC on the Fiscal Health Score by 1 points — 90/100 (grade A) to 89/100 (grade A). At a margin this narrow the grade is close enough that the factor-level detail matters more than the composite.

Neither city reports outstanding debt per resident in its current Census filing, which removes debt service as a point of difference between them. Both cities pour the most per-resident dollars into the same function: parks and recreation leads in Wilmington, NC at $966 per resident and in Winston-Salem, NC at $801.

They also fund themselves differently: intergovernmental transfers is the largest single revenue source in Wilmington, NC at 9% of total revenue, whereas Winston-Salem, NC relies most on other revenue at 9%.