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Delta · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

Delta County · Western Slope · home rule municipality · Pop. 9,802 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 9,195 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2018, FY2019, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023

You’re viewing FY2021. See the latest view (FY2023). Latest Census Bureau finance data for Delta: 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

Delta collected $2,408 per resident (including city-run utilities), in line with the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 12% below its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 30% below its peers, but in line with the state median. Debt per resident runs 30% above 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)

$2,408
12% below peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$2,726
CO median · 227 with a published figure
$2,476
Position
Higher than 47% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+3.8%/yr
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$2,370
in line with peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$2,384
CO median · 220 with a published figure
$2,208
Position
Higher than 54% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+2.7%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$1,031
30% below peers
Peer median
$1,472
CO median · 201 with a published figure
$1,072
Position
Higher than 48% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+10.0%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$2,066
30% above peers
Peer median
$1,586
CO median · 199 with a published figure
$1,411
Position
Higher than 66% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−7.7%/yr
How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $2,408
Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

  1. 1Metric

    $2,408 Total revenue divided by population

    = Total revenue ÷ population

    Full definition: Revenue per resident

  2. 2Inputs

    Total revenue $22.1M ÷ population 9,195 (2021 estimate)

  3. 3Census line items

    • A61 Parks & recreation charges
    • A80 Sewer charges
    • A81 Solid waste charges
    • A91 Water utility charges
    • A92 Electric utility charges
    • C89 State aid
    • D89 Local government aid
    • T01 Property tax
    • T09 General sales tax
    • T20 Licenses & permits
    • T29 Licenses & permits
    • T99 Other taxes
    • U20 Interest earnings
    • U30 Fines & forfeits

  4. 4Source file

What the numbers mean

  • Delta runs city-owned utilities, which add 39.0% 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
  • Delta relies on sales tax more than most Colorado municipalities. Tourism and regional retail can raise sales tax per resident because non-residents pay it.

Where the money comes from and where it goes

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

The biggest difference from peers is Utilities & environment: $1,175 per resident, 2.3× the peer median. On the revenue side, utility & transit charges is 2.3× peers.

Money in

Revenue

$2,408
per resident12% below peers
Money in: Delta revenue per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$98724% belowpeers $1,301
$9402.3×peers $412
$37538% belowpeers $607
$5977% belowpeers $253
$4467% belowpeers $131
$493% belowpeers $49
$1100% belowpeers $175
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$2,370
per residentin line with peers
Money out: Delta spending per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$1,1752.3×peers $505
$52284% abovepeers $284
$34212% belowpeers $391
$17561% belowpeers $451
$862.3×peers $37
$6982% belowpeers $395
None reported · peers $41$0None reported
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Delta 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
Delta compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
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
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
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
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
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
RifleUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 15.5% 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 1.5× the Colorado median.$2,773$2,460$1,472$1,301$3,076
Peer median$2,726$2,384$1,472$1,301$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 $1,995 to FY2023 $2,539.$0$1.8K$3.5K’16’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $2,617Peer median FY2018: $2,529Peer median FY2019: $2,655Peer median FY2020: $2,146Peer median FY2021: $2,726Peer median FY2022: $2,930Peer median FY2023: $3,545Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,995FY2018: $2,127FY2019: $2,176FY2020: $2,153FY2021: $2,408FY2022: $2,249FY2023: $2,539

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2018, FY2020, 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$1,995$2,617$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2018$2,127$2,529$2,529 (75 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$2,176$2,655$2,694 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$2,153$2,146$2,739 (76 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$2,408$2,726$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2022$2,249$2,930$3,031 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$2,539$3,545$3,580 (97 reporting, sample year)
Expenditures per resident
FY2016 $2,079 to FY2023 $2,979.$0$1.5K$3K’16’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $2,402Peer median FY2018: $2,616Peer median FY2019: $2,742Peer median FY2020: $1,942Peer median FY2021: $2,384Peer median FY2022: $2,791Peer median FY2023: $3,005Colorado median FY2016: $1,749 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,208 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $2,079FY2018: $2,072FY2019: $2,120FY2020: $2,057FY2021: $2,370FY2022: $2,813. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.FY2023: $2,979. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.

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.

Peer group changed in FY2018, FY2020, 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$2,079$2,402$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2018$2,072$2,616$2,387 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$2,120$2,742$2,759 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$2,057$1,942$2,485 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$2,370$2,384$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2022$2,813$2,791$3,025 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$2,979$3,005$3,680 (91 reporting, sample year)
Tax revenue per resident
FY2016 $641 to FY2023 $838.$0$916.8$1.8K’16’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,221Peer median FY2018: $1,213Peer median FY2019: $1,276Peer median FY2020: $1,212Peer median FY2021: $1,472Peer median FY2022: $1,649Peer median FY2023: $1,834Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $641FY2018: $715FY2019: $787FY2020: $759FY2021: $1,031FY2022: $828FY2023: $838

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2018, FY2020, 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$641$1,221$705 (193 reporting)
FY2018$715$1,213$1,173 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$787$1,276$1,187 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$759$1,212$1,238 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$1,031$1,472$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2022$828$1,649$1,631 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$838$1,834$1,726 (90 reporting, sample year)
Debt per resident
FY2016 $3,091 to FY2023 $2,567.$0$1.5K$3.1K’16’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,141Peer median FY2018: $2,268Peer median FY2019: $2,036Peer median FY2020: $2,042Peer median FY2021: $1,586Peer median FY2022: $1,761Peer median FY2023: $1,865Colorado median FY2016: $1,072 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,411 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $3,091FY2018: $2,834FY2019: $1,812FY2020: $2,201FY2021: $2,066FY2022: $2,168FY2023: $2,567

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023. 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$3,091$1,141$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2018$2,834$2,268$1,644 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,812$2,036$1,627 (69 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$2,201$2,042$1,798 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$2,066$1,586$1,411 (199 reporting)
FY2022$2,168$1,761$2,068 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$2,567$1,865$2,130 (91 reporting, sample year)

Questions about Delta’s finances

How much revenue does Delta collect per resident?
Delta collected $2,408 per resident in FY2021, in line with the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Delta's spending per resident compare with similar cities?
Delta spent $2,370 per resident in FY2021, in line with the median of its peers: Craig, Alamosa, Cortez, Glenwood Springs and Rifle. See the figure
How much debt does Delta have per resident?
Delta carried $2,066 of debt per resident in FY2021, 30% above its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Delta compared with?
Delta is compared with Craig, Alamosa, Cortez, Glenwood Springs and Rifle: 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)
+0.9%/yr
2021 estimate
Median household income
$44.6K
2021 estimate
Poverty rate
16.3%
2021 estimate
Median home value
$195.5K
2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate
9.0%
2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Western Slope

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Delta, 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 Delta’s largest difference from its peers (2.3× the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.

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