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Federal Heights · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

Adams County · Denver Metro · home rule municipality · Pop. 14,075 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 14,205 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021, FY2023

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

Federal Heights collected $1,684 per resident (including city-run utilities), 32% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 49% below its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 48% below its peers, and 8% below the state median.

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)

$1,684
49% below peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$3,282
CO median · 227 with a published figure
$2,476
Position
Higher than 26% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+4.4%/yr
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$1,316
49% below peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$2,599
CO median · 220 with a published figure
$2,208
Position
Higher than 21% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+1.9%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$985
48% below peers
Peer median
$1,878
CO median · 201 with a published figure
$1,072
Position
Higher than 45% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+5.1%/yr

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $1,684
Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

  1. 1Metric

    $1,684 Total revenue divided by population

    = Total revenue ÷ population

    Full definition: Revenue per resident

  2. 2Inputs

    Total revenue $23.9M ÷ population 14,205 (2021 estimate)

  3. 3Census line items

    • A80 Sewer charges
    • A89 General government (other) charges
    • A91 Water utility charges
    • B89 Federal aid
    • C89 State aid
    • D89 Local government aid
    • T01 Property tax
    • T09 General sales tax
    • T10 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T11 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T20 Licenses & permits
    • T29 Licenses & permits
    • U20 Interest earnings
    • U30 Fines & forfeits
    • U99 Miscellaneous

  4. 4Source file

What the numbers mean

  • Federal Heights runs city-owned utilities, which add 15.5% 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
  • Federal Heights 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 Federal Heights; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is General government: $286 per resident, 69% below the peer median. On the revenue side, property tax is 99% below peers.

Money in

Revenue

$1,684
per resident49% below peers
Money in: Federal Heights revenue per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$82733% belowpeers $1,243
$261in line withpeers $258
$20116% belowpeers $240
$1966% abovepeers $184
$15326% belowpeers $205
$4172% belowpeers $147
$599% belowpeers $430
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$1,316
per resident49% below peers
Money out: Federal Heights spending per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$50116% belowpeers $597
$3912.3×peers $172
$28669% belowpeers $929
$9381% belowpeers $497
$4588% belowpeers $382
None reported · peers $89$0None reported
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Federal Heights 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
Federal Heights compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
Federal HeightsUtilities: 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.$1,684$1,316$985$827Not reported for this year
Lone TreeRegional hub: Sales tax per resident is 2.2× the Colorado median.$3,797$2,599$2,231$1,895$1,055
GoldenUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 9.8% 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.$3,282$3,075$1,878$1,243$987
Greenwood VillageRegional hub: Sales tax per resident is 2.6× the Colorado median.$3,883$3,103$3,323$2,252$3,621
SuperiorUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 10.0% 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.$2,592$2,349$1,577$995$2,477
WellingtonUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 23.9% 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.$1,669$1,408$665$414$2,081
Peer median$3,282$2,599$1,878$1,243Not reported for this year

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 $1,357 to FY2023 $1,820.$0$2.2K$4.5K’16’21’23Peer median FY2016: $3,369Peer median FY2021: $3,282Peer median FY2023: $4,470Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,357FY2021: $1,684FY2023: $1,820

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2021, 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$1,357$3,369$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021$1,684$3,282$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2023$1,820$4,470$3,580 (97 reporting, sample year)
Expenditures per resident
FY2016 $1,199 to FY2023 $1,633.$0$2.1K$4.3K’16’21’23Peer median FY2016: $3,282Peer median FY2021: $2,599Peer median FY2023: $4,258Colorado median FY2016: $1,749 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,208 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,199FY2021: $1,316FY2023: $1,633. 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 FY2021, FY2023. 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$1,199$3,282$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021$1,316$2,599$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2023$1,633$4,258$3,680 (91 reporting, sample year)
Tax revenue per resident
FY2016 $767 to FY2023 $1,004.$0$1.7K$3.4K’16’21’23Peer median FY2016: $1,416Peer median FY2021: $1,878Peer median FY2023: $3,390Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $767FY2021: $985FY2023: $1,004

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2021, 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$767$1,416$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021$985$1,878$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2023$1,004$3,390$1,726 (90 reporting, sample year)
Debt per resident
FY2016 $103.$0$645.6$1.3K’16’21’23Peer median FY2016: $1,291Colorado median FY2016: $1,072 (all 224 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $103

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Show data table
Debt per resident by fiscal year
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$103$1,291$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021———
FY2023———

Questions about Federal Heights’s finances

How much revenue does Federal Heights collect per resident?
Federal Heights collected $1,684 per resident in FY2021, 32% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Federal Heights's spending per resident compare with similar cities?
Federal Heights spent $1,316 per resident in FY2021, 49% below the median of its peers: Lone Tree, Golden, Greenwood Village, Superior and Wellington. See the figure
Which cities is Federal Heights compared with?
Federal Heights is compared with Lone Tree, Golden, Greenwood Village, Superior and Wellington: 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)
+1.5%/yr
2021 estimate
Median household income
$51.1K
2021 estimate
Poverty rate
20.1%
2021 estimate
Median home value
$74.6K
2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate
5.4%
2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Denver Metro

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Federal Heights, 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

General government is Federal Heights’s largest difference from its peers (69% below the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.

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