Frederick · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

Name: Frederick, CO municipal finance benchmarks
Creator: Orivian
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Weld County · Northern Front Range · statutory town · Pop. 18,241 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 15,786 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021, FY2023

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

City website (opens in a new tab)

Fiscal yearCompare

FY2021 in brief

Frederick collected $2,036 per resident (including city-run utilities), 18% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 46% below its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 39% below its peers, and 11% below the state median. Debt per resident runs 91% below peers.

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

Compared with

Nearest on population, household income and region

Revenue per resident (definition)

$2,036

46% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $3,797
CO median · 227 with a published figure Median of the 227 Colorado municipalities with FY2021 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $2,476
Position: Higher than 36% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: −0.5%/yr

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$1,310

57% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $3,071
CO median · 220 with a published figure Median of the 220 Colorado municipalities with FY2021 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $2,208
Position: Higher than 20% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: −5.0%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$949

39% below peers

Peer median: $1,563
CO median · 201 with a published figure Median of the 201 Colorado municipalities with FY2021 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $1,072
Position: Higher than 43% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +4.9%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$277

91% below peers

Peer median: $3,105
CO median · 199 with a published figure Median of the 199 Colorado municipalities with FY2021 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $1,411
Position: Higher than 11% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: −15.7%/yr

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $2,036

Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

1Metric
$2,036 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $32.1M ÷ population 15,786 (2021 estimate)
3Census line items
- A44 Streets & highways charges
- A61 Parks & recreation charges
- A91 Water utility charges
- C89 State aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T20 Licenses & permits
- T28 Licenses & permits
- U20 Interest earnings
- U30 Fines & forfeits
- U41 Royalties
- U50 Private donations
4Source file
- Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2022 - Individual Unit File
  Value for
  FY2021
  Survey file
  2022
  The 2022 Census survey covers fiscal years ending July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, so a fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 is FY2021.
  Retrieved October 12, 2026 · View source: Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2022 - Individual Unit File (opens in a new tab)
- Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 - incorporated places
  Value for
  FY2021
  Source year
  2025
  Retrieved October 7, 2026 · View source: Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 - incorporated places (opens in a new tab)

What the numbers mean

Frederick runs city-owned utilities, which add 45.8% 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 Frederick; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is General government: $298 per resident, 79% below the peer median. On the revenue side, sales tax is 49% below peers.

Money in

Revenue

$2,036

per resident46% below peers

Money in: Frederick revenue per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
Category	Per resident	Peer median	vs peers	Share of revenue
	$933	$269	3.5× peerspeers $269	46%

Water utility charges $933 · peers $269 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
	$712	$1,398	49% below peerspeers $1,398	35%

General sales tax $712 · peers $1,398 General sales and use tax. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$165	$460	64% below peerspeers $460	8%

Property tax $165 · peers $460 Property tax levied by the municipality. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$72	$267	73% below peerspeers $267	4%

Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) $72 · peers $51 Licenses & permits $1 · peers $137 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Census line items T15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T20 Licenses & permits T28 Licenses & permits
	$69	$224	69% below peerspeers $224	3%

Parks & recreation charges $51 · peers $3 Streets & highways charges $18 · peers $0 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Census line items A44 Streets & highways charges A61 Parks & recreation charges
	$55	$299	82% below peerspeers $299	3%

State aid $55 · peers $168 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Census line items C89 State aid
	$31	$436	93% below peerspeers $436	2%

Royalties $17 · peers $0 Fines & forfeits $8 · peers $15 Private donations $3 · peers $0 Interest earnings $3 · peers $2 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Census line items U20 Interest earnings U30 Fines & forfeits U41 Royalties U50 Private donations

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$1,310

per resident57% below peers

Money out: Frederick spending per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
Category	Per resident	Peer median	vs peers	Share of spending
	$333	$228	46% above peerspeers $228	25%

Water utility $333 · peers $125 Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Census line items E91 Water utility
	$319	$428	25% below peerspeers $428	24%

Police $319 · peers $428 Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Census line items E62 Police
	$298	$1,433	79% below peerspeers $1,433	23%

Central staff services $249 · peers $268 Financial administration $25 · peers $41 General public buildings $16 · peers $0 Judicial & legal $9 · peers $14 Administration, finance, legal and courts, public buildings and other general government. Census line items E23 Financial administration E25 Judicial & legal E29 Central staff services E31 General public buildings
	$224	$202	11% above peerspeers $202	17%

Streets & highways $224 · peers $181 incl. $86 construction incl. $86 construction Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports. Census line items E44 Streets & highways F44 Streets & highways
	$123	$177	30% below peerspeers $177	9%

Parks & recreation $123 · peers $174 incl. $26 construction incl. $26 construction Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Census line items E61 Parks & recreation F61 Parks & recreation
	$13	$89	86% below peerspeers $89	1%

Interest on debt $13 · peers $89 Interest paid on the municipality's debt. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items I89 Interest on debt

Peer median of 4 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Frederick 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

Frederick compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
FrederickUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 45.8% 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.	$2,036	$1,310	$949	$712	$277
FirestoneUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 16.8% 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.	$2,786	$3,903	$1,535	$758	$4,612
JohnstownUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 7.5% 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.	$3,601	Withheld Johnstown · Expenditures per resident · FY2021 Reason: Expenditures per resident is 633% of this city's typical level in other years We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$1,563	$902	$3,105
Greenwood VillageRegional hub: Sales tax per resident is 2.6× the Colorado median.	$3,883	$3,103	$3,323	$2,252	$3,621
Lone TreeRegional hub: Sales tax per resident is 2.2× the Colorado median.	$3,797	$2,599	$2,231	$1,895	$1,055
BerthoudUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 8.0% 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.	$4,394	$3,039	$1,426	Withheld Berthoud · Sales tax per resident · FY2021 Reason: Sales tax per resident is 302% of this city's typical level in other years We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$761
Peer median	$3,797	$3,071	$1,563	$1,398	$3,105

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

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
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$2,087	$1,534	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021	$2,036	$3,797	$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2023	$1,796	$4,307	$3,580 (97 reporting, sample year)

Expenditures per resident

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
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$1,691	Benchmark unavailable	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021	$1,310	$3,071	$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2023	$2,194	$3,953	$3,680 (91 reporting, sample year)

Tax revenue per resident

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
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$748	$854	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021	$949	$1,563	$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2023	$1,290	$2,069	$1,726 (90 reporting, sample year)

Debt per resident

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

Debt per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$651	$595	$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021	$277	$3,105	$1,411 (199 reporting)
FY2023	$170	$3,263	$2,130 (91 reporting, sample year)

Questions about Frederick’s finances

How much revenue does Frederick collect per resident?: Frederick collected $2,036 per resident in FY2021, 18% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Frederick's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Frederick spent $1,310 per resident in FY2021, 57% below the median of its peers: Firestone, Johnstown, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree and Berthoud. See the figure
How much debt does Frederick have per resident?: Frederick carried $277 of debt per resident in FY2021, 91% below its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Frederick compared with?: Frederick is compared with Firestone, Johnstown, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree and Berthoud: 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): +10.1%/yr; 2021 estimate
Median household income: $116.3K; 2021 estimate
Poverty rate: 2.9%; 2021 estimate
Median home value: $421.2K; 2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate: 2.2%; 2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Northern Front Range

Firestone$4,950 · FY2023
Berthoud$1,417 · FY2023
Johnstown$4,307 · FY2023
Evans$2,368 · FY2023
Wellington$1,738 · FY2022
Severance$1,775 · FY2023
Timnath$3,490 · FY2023
Fort Lupton$6,892 · FY2023

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2017-2021 · 2021
U.S. Census Bureau
Retrieved October 7, 2026View source: American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2017-2021 (opens in a new tab)
Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2022 - Individual Unit File · 2022 survey file
U.S. Census Bureau
Retrieved October 12, 2026View source: Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2022 - Individual Unit File (opens in a new tab)
Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 - incorporated places · 2025
U.S. Census Bureau
Retrieved October 7, 2026View source: Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 - incorporated places (opens in a new tab)

Dataset: Frederick, 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 Frederick’s largest difference from its peers (79% below the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.

Orivian applies the same sourced, governed approach to your city's own budget-vs-actual data.

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Frederick · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

FY2021 in brief

FY2021 headline figures

Revenue per resident (definition)

Expenditures per resident (definition)

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

Debt per resident (definition)

How this number was calculated

What the numbers mean

Where the money comes from and where it goes

Money in

Money out

Frederick and its peers

Trends

Questions about Frederick’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Northern Front Range

Sources

General government is Frederick’s largest difference from its peers (79% below the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.