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Littleton · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson counties · Denver Metro · home rule municipality · Pop. 46,246 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 45,330 · Census finance data FY2016–FY2023

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

Littleton collected $1,859 per resident, 25% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. Tax revenue per resident sits 13% below its peers, but 13% above the state median. Debt per resident runs 89% 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)

$1,859
24% below peers
Peer median
$2,433
CO median · 227 with a published figure
$2,476
Position
Higher than 31% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−3.7%/yr
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$1,622
19% below peers
Peer median
$1,998
CO median · 220 with a published figure
$2,208
Position
Higher than 32% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−3.5%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$1,215
13% below peers
Peer median
$1,390
CO median · 201 with a published figure
$1,072
Position
Higher than 57% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+4.2%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$234
89% below peers
Peer median
$2,167
CO median · 199 with a published figure
$1,411
Position
Higher than 9% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−20.1%/yr
How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $1,859
Includes Census estimates for 100% of revenue

  1. 1Metric

    $1,859 Total revenue divided by population

    = Total revenue ÷ population

    Full definition: Revenue per resident

  2. 2Inputs

    Total revenue $84.3M ÷ population 45,330 (2021 estimate)

  3. 3Census line items

    • A80 Sewer charges
    • A89 General government (other) charges
    • C89 State aid
    • T01 Property tax
    • T09 General sales tax
    • T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T28 Licenses & permits
    • T29 Licenses & permits
    • U11 Sale of property
    • U20 Interest earnings
    • U30 Fines & forfeits
    • U99 Miscellaneous

  4. 4Source file

What the numbers mean

Where the money comes from and where it goes

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

The biggest difference from peers is Utilities & environment: $261 per resident, 62% below the peer median. On the revenue side, Littleton reports no utility & transit charges; peers collect $215 per resident.

Money in

Revenue

$1,859
per resident24% below peers
Money in: Littleton revenue per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$87817% belowpeers $1,055
$44959% abovepeers $283
$203in line withpeers $202
$13419% belowpeers $166
$12927% belowpeers $177
$6538% belowpeers $105
None reported · peers $215$0None reported
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$1,622
per resident19% below peers
Money out: Littleton spending per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$54443% abovepeers $379
$32433% belowpeers $484
$26162% belowpeers $694
$25723% belowpeers $334
$2097% abovepeers $195
$2262% belowpeers $59
$6No peer comparisonpeers $0
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Littleton 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
Littleton compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
Littleton$1,859$1,622$1,215$878$234
BrightonUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 13.3% 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.$2,532$2,260$1,329$1,012$1,382
Commerce CityRegional hub: Sales tax per resident is 1.8× the Colorado median.$2,433$1,998$1,913$1,545$4,203
EnglewoodUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 10.7% 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.$3,095$2,642$1,590$1,055$1,156
Wheat Ridge$2,285$1,858$1,390$1,118$2,167
NorthglennUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 8.9% 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.$2,426$1,441$1,044$861$2,330
Peer median$2,433$1,998$1,390$1,055$2,167

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 $2,245 to FY2023 $2,399.$0$1.4K$2.8K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,890Peer median FY2017: $2,307Peer median FY2018: $2,403Peer median FY2019: $2,128Peer median FY2020: $2,025Peer median FY2021: $2,433Peer median FY2022: $2,621Peer median FY2023: $2,803Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $2,245FY2017: $2,278FY2018: $2,516FY2019: $1,656FY2020: $1,703FY2021: $1,859FY2022: $2,002FY2023: $2,399

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2020, 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$2,245$1,890$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2017$2,278$2,307$2,694 (35 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$2,516$2,403$2,529 (75 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,656$2,128$2,694 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,703$2,025$2,739 (76 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$1,859$2,433$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2022$2,002$2,621$3,031 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$2,399$2,803$3,580 (97 reporting, sample year)
Expenditures per resident
FY2016 $1,943 to FY2023 $2,069.$0$1.3K$2.6K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,748Peer median FY2017: $2,045Peer median FY2018: $1,921Peer median FY2019: $1,620Peer median FY2020: $2,090Peer median FY2021: $1,998Peer median FY2022: $2,398Peer median FY2023: $2,613Colorado median FY2016: $1,749 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,208 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,943FY2017: $1,974FY2018: $2,028FY2019: $1,530FY2020: $1,588FY2021: $1,622FY2022: $1,793. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.FY2023: $2,069. 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 FY2017, FY2018, FY2020, 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$1,943$1,748$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2017$1,974$2,045$2,663 (35 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$2,028$1,921$2,387 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,530$1,620$2,759 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,588$2,090$2,485 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$1,622$1,998$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2022$1,793$2,398$3,025 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$2,069$2,613$3,680 (91 reporting, sample year)
Tax revenue per resident
FY2016 $991 to FY2023 $1,476.$0$815.7$1.6K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,061Peer median FY2017: $1,098Peer median FY2018: $1,173Peer median FY2019: $1,245Peer median FY2020: $1,184Peer median FY2021: $1,390Peer median FY2022: $1,631Peer median FY2023: $1,371Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $991FY2017: $1,025FY2018: $1,134FY2019: $1,046FY2020: $1,103FY2021: $1,215FY2022: $1,338FY2023: $1,476

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2020, 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$991$1,061$705 (193 reporting)
FY2017$1,025$1,098$1,098 (34 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$1,134$1,173$1,173 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,046$1,245$1,187 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,103$1,184$1,238 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$1,215$1,390$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2022$1,338$1,631$1,631 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$1,476$1,371$1,726 (90 reporting, sample year)
Debt per resident
FY2016 $718 to FY2023 $91.$0$1.3K$2.5K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,559Peer median FY2017: $2,542Peer median FY2018: $1,067Peer median FY2019: $1,352Peer median FY2020: $913Peer median FY2021: $2,167Peer median FY2022: $1,258Peer median FY2023: $1,496Colorado median FY2016: $1,072 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,411 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $718FY2017: $658FY2018: $604FY2019: $146FY2020: $130FY2021: $234FY2022: $205FY2023: $91

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2020, 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$718$1,559$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2017$658$2,542$1,482 (34 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$604$1,067$1,644 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$146$1,352$1,627 (69 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$130$913$1,798 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$234$2,167$1,411 (199 reporting)
FY2022$205$1,258$2,068 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$91$1,496$2,130 (91 reporting, sample year)

Questions about Littleton’s finances

How much revenue does Littleton collect per resident?
Littleton collected $1,859 per resident in FY2021, 25% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Littleton's spending per resident compare with similar cities?
Littleton spent $1,622 per resident in FY2021, 19% below the median of its peers: Brighton, Commerce City, Englewood, Wheat Ridge and Northglenn. See the figure
How much debt does Littleton have per resident?
Littleton carried $234 of debt per resident in FY2021, 89% below its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Littleton compared with?
Littleton is compared with Brighton, Commerce City, Englewood, Wheat Ridge and Northglenn: 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)
+0.1%/yr
2021 estimate
Median household income
$83K
2021 estimate
Poverty rate
7.4%
2021 estimate
Median home value
$471.9K
2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate
5.1%
2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Denver Metro

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Littleton, 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 Littleton’s largest difference from its peers (62% below the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.

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