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Cortez · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

Montezuma County · Southwest · home rule municipality · Pop. 9,126 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 8,921 · Census finance data FY2016–FY2023

You’re viewing FY2021. See the latest view (FY2023). Latest Census Bureau finance data for Cortez: FY2023. Retrieved Oct 2026. Newer years are added when the Census Bureau publishes them. Why the lag?

City website (opens in a new tab)

Compare

FY2021 in brief

Cortez collected $2,726 per resident (including city-run utilities), 10% above the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. Tax revenue per resident sits 11% above its peers, and 44% above the state median. Debt per resident runs 71% below peers.

Generated from the figures below. Every number links to its Census source.

Compared with

Nearest on population, household income and region

FY2021 headline figures

Revenue per resident (definition)

$2,726
8% above peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$2,527
CO median · 227 with a published figure
$2,476
Position
Higher than 58% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−1.5%/yr
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$2,120
11% below peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$2,370
CO median · 220 with a published figure
$2,208
Position
Higher than 48% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−4.2%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$1,543
11% above peers
Peer median
$1,386
CO median · 201 with a published figure
$1,072
Position
Higher than 71% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+0.6%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$454
71% below peers
Peer median
$1,586
CO median · 199 with a published figure
$1,411
Position
Higher than 20% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−12.2%/yr
How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $2,726
Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

  1. 1Metric

    $2,726 Total revenue divided by population

    = Total revenue ÷ population

    Full definition: Revenue per resident

  2. 2Inputs

    Total revenue $24.3M ÷ population 8,921 (2021 estimate)

  3. 3Census line items

    • A01 Airport charges
    • A03 Commercial activities (other) charges
    • A61 Parks & recreation charges
    • A81 Solid waste charges
    • A89 General government (other) charges
    • A91 Water utility charges
    • A92 Electric utility charges
    • B89 Federal aid
    • C89 State aid
    • D89 Local government aid
    • T01 Property tax
    • T09 General sales tax
    • T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T28 Licenses & permits
    • T29 Licenses & permits
    • U20 Interest earnings
    • U30 Fines & forfeits
    • U50 Private donations
    • U99 Miscellaneous

  4. 4Source file

What the numbers mean

  • Cortez runs city-owned utilities, which add 15.1% of its revenue. Cities that don't run utilities will look lower on revenue and spending per resident for that reason alone. What counts as utility revenue

Where the money comes from and where it goes

Per resident, FY2021. Bars show Cortez; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is Utilities & environment: $417 per resident, 52% below the peer median. On the revenue side, sales tax is 23% above peers.

Money in

Revenue

$2,726
per resident8% above peers
Money in: Cortez revenue per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$1,21223% abovepeers $987
$4125% abovepeers $392
$40714% belowpeers $476
$31625% abovepeers $253
$2002.2×peers $90
$13137% belowpeers $208
$4949% belowpeers $97
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$2,120
per resident11% below peers
Money out: Cortez spending per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$53739% abovepeers $387
$41752% belowpeers $876
$39525% abovepeers $316
$36179% abovepeers $201
$32515% abovepeers $284
$62No peer comparisonpeers $0
$2436% belowpeers $37
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Cortez and its peers

The five Colorado municipalities nearest on population, median household income and region. Budget size isn’t a matching factor, so peers aren’t chosen on the figures being compared. Per resident, FY2021. How peers are chosen

Open in Compare
Cortez compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
CortezUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 15.1% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$2,726$2,120$1,543$1,212$454
CraigUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 15.2% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$2,577$2,384$1,386$925$665
DeltaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 39.0% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$2,408$2,370$1,031$987$2,066
AlamosaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 8.5% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.Regional hub: Sales tax per resident is 1.6× the Colorado median.$2,527$1,446$1,458$1,390$1,586
GypsumUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 6.2% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$2,252$1,221$1,215$849$471
Glenwood SpringsUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 22.0% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.Regional hub: Sales tax per resident is 2.8× the Colorado median.$6,400$6,064$2,856$2,413$5,718
Peer median$2,527$2,370$1,386$987$1,586

Utilities marks a municipality whose revenue and spending include city-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit), which raises its per-resident totals.

Regional hub marks a municipality whose sales tax per resident is at least 1.5× the Colorado median: a shopping or visitor hub where people who live elsewhere pay much of the sales tax.

Trends

Every available fiscal year. Lines break where a year is missing or withheld; nothing is interpolated.

  • This city
  • Peer median
  • Withheld (shown on the axis, no value)
  • Colorado median (Census of Governments years only)
Revenue per resident
FY2016 $2,943 to FY2023 $3,373.$0$2.2K$4.5K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,995Peer median FY2017: $4,476Peer median FY2018: $2,127Peer median FY2019: $2,218Peer median FY2020: $2,377Peer median FY2021: $2,527Peer median FY2022: $3,724Peer median FY2023: $3,545Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $2,943FY2017: $2,974FY2018: $2,529FY2019: $2,655FY2020: $1,034FY2021: $2,726FY2022: $2,934FY2023: $3,373

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023. Peers are matched each year, so the peer median can step when the group changes.

Show data table
Revenue per resident by fiscal year
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$2,943$1,995$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2017$2,974$4,476$2,694 (35 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$2,529$2,127$2,529 (75 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$2,655$2,218$2,694 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,034$2,377$2,739 (76 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$2,726$2,527$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2022$2,934$3,724$3,031 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$3,373$3,545$3,580 (97 reporting, sample year)
Expenditures per resident
FY2016 $2,623 to FY2023 $3,005. 1 year withheld.$0$2.3K$4.5K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $2,079Peer median FY2017: $4,532Peer median FY2018: $2,072Peer median FY2019: $2,120Peer median FY2021: $2,370Peer median FY2022: $3,724Peer median FY2023: $2,989Colorado median FY2016: $1,749 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,208 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $2,623FY2017: $2,800FY2018: $3,083FY2019: $3,273FY2021: $2,120FY2022: $2,356. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.FY2023: $3,005. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.FY2020: withheld — Expenditures per resident is 1% of this city's typical level in other years

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Census definition change: Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.

  • FY2020 withheld: Expenditures per resident is 1% of this city's typical level in other years

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023, the same year as the census definition change. Peers are matched each year, so the peer median can step when the group changes.

Show data table
Expenditures per resident by fiscal year
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$2,623$2,079$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2017$2,800$4,532$2,663 (35 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$3,083$2,072$2,387 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$3,273$2,120$2,759 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020Withheld (Expenditures per resident is 1% of this city's typical level in other years)Benchmark unavailable$2,485 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$2,120$2,370$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2022$2,356$3,724$3,025 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$3,005$2,989$3,680 (91 reporting, sample year)
Tax revenue per resident
FY2016 $1,501 to FY2023 $1,841.$0$1.2K$2.5K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $967Peer median FY2017: $2,486Peer median FY2018: $1,173Peer median FY2019: $1,251Peer median FY2020: $1,239Peer median FY2021: $1,386Peer median FY2022: $1,781Peer median FY2023: $1,676Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,501FY2017: $1,563FY2018: $1,414FY2019: $1,512FY2020: $1,031FY2021: $1,543FY2022: $1,742FY2023: $1,841

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023. Peers are matched each year, so the peer median can step when the group changes.

Show data table
Tax revenue per resident by fiscal year
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$1,501$967$705 (193 reporting)
FY2017$1,563$2,486$1,098 (34 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$1,414$1,173$1,173 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,512$1,251$1,187 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,031$1,239$1,238 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$1,543$1,386$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2022$1,742$1,781$1,631 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$1,841$1,676$1,726 (90 reporting, sample year)
Debt per resident
FY2016 $871 to FY2022 $419.$0$1.6K$3.2K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,245Peer median FY2017: $2,626Peer median FY2018: $3,169Peer median FY2019: $2,437Peer median FY2020: $2,619Peer median FY2021: $1,586Peer median FY2022: $2,168Colorado median FY2016: $1,072 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,411 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $871FY2017: $793FY2018: $1,033FY2019: $1,011FY2020: $985FY2021: $454FY2022: $419

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022. Peers are matched each year, so the peer median can step when the group changes.

Show data table
Debt per resident by fiscal year
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$871$1,245$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2017$793$2,626$1,482 (34 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$1,033$3,169$1,644 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,011$2,437$1,627 (69 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$985$2,619$1,798 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$454$1,586$1,411 (199 reporting)
FY2022$419$2,168$2,068 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2023———

Questions about Cortez’s finances

How much revenue does Cortez collect per resident?
Cortez collected $2,726 per resident in FY2021, 10% above the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Cortez's spending per resident compare with similar cities?
Cortez spent $2,120 per resident in FY2021, 11% below the median of its peers: Craig, Delta, Alamosa, Gypsum and Glenwood Springs. See the figure
How much debt does Cortez have per resident?
Cortez carried $454 of debt per resident in FY2021, 71% below its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Cortez compared with?
Cortez is compared with Craig, Delta, Alamosa, Gypsum and Glenwood Springs: the Colorado municipalities nearest to it on population, median household income and region. Budget size isn't used, so peers aren't chosen on the figures being compared. See the peer table
Where do these numbers come from?
From the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, as each government reported its own fiscal year, divided by Census population estimates. Figures that fail quality checks are withheld rather than shown. Sources and methodology

Community context

American Community Survey 5-year estimates and Census population estimates. Where the selected year isn’t available, the nearest earlier year is shown and labeled.

Population growth (5-yr)
+0.5%/yr
2021 estimate
Median household income
$51.9K
2021 estimate
Poverty rate
15.8%
2021 estimate
Median home value
$174.8K
2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate
12.3%
2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Southwest

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Cortez, CO municipal finance benchmarks

Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab). Please credit “Source: Orivian Municipal Index, orivian.ai/benchmarks”. See the data use terms.

Notes: dollars are nominal (not inflation-adjusted). Colorado medians cover the municipalities reporting that year. Peers: nearest on population, income and region. Definitions: orivian.ai/benchmarks/methodology.Retrieved October 12, 2026 from orivian.ai/benchmarks.

Every figure on this page is read from the published index; nothing is recalculated for display. Read the methodology

Utilities & environment is Cortez’s largest difference from its peers (52% below the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.

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