Winston-Salem, NC vs Wilmington, NC
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Wilmington spends 6.7% more per capita than Winston-Salem ($899/person difference). Wilmington, NC has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (A, 90/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $297 | $689 |
| Income Tax | $521 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $2,560 | $2,051 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,604 | $0 |
| Other | $3,138 | $1,201 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $207 | $305 |
| Highways & Roads | $0 | $269 |
| Public Welfare | $632 | $811 |
| Hospitals | $875 | $1,195 |
| Parks & Recreation | $801 | $966 |
| Housing | $3,260 | $3,380 |
| Sewerage | $180 | $88 |
| Utilities | $2,767 | $1,119 |
| Interest on Debt | $865 | $320 |
| Other | $2,959 | $4,991 |
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.