Mead · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

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

Weld County · Northern Front Range · statutory town · Pop. 7,042 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 5,349 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Mead: FY2021. 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

Mead collected $3,154 per resident, 27% above the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 12% above its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 20% below its peers, but 72% above the state median. Debt per resident runs 69% 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)

$3,154

12% above peers

Peer median: $2,820
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 67% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +22.4%/yr

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$2,391

24% below peers

Peer median: $3,140
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 56% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +16.1%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$1,839

20% below peers

Peer median: $2,310
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 77% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +18.5%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$299

69% below peers

Peer median: $959
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 13% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: −5.5%/yr

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $3,154

Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

1Metric
$3,154 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $16.9M ÷ population 5,349 (2021 estimate)
3Census line items
- A61 Parks & recreation charges
- A80 Sewer charges
- A89 General government (other) charges
- B89 Federal aid
- C89 State aid
- D89 Local government aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T20 Licenses & permits
- T28 Licenses & permits
- T29 Licenses & permits
- U01 Special assessments
- U11 Sale of property
- U20 Interest earnings
- U30 Fines & forfeits
- U99 Miscellaneous
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

No structural factors stand out in the data. The peer comparison below is a fair starting point.

Where the money comes from and where it goes

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

The biggest difference from peers is Utilities & environment: $137 per resident, 81% below the peer median. On the revenue side, sales tax is 55% below peers.

Money in

Revenue

$3,154

per resident12% above peers

Money in: Mead 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
	$947	$286	3.3× peerspeers $286	30%

Special assessments $921 · peers $0 Miscellaneous $15 · peers $84 Fines & forfeits $6 · peers $9 Interest earnings $2 · peers $1 Sale of property $2 · peers $0 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Census line items U01 Special assessments U11 Sale of property U20 Interest earnings U30 Fines & forfeits U99 Miscellaneous
	$774	$1,721	55% below peerspeers $1,721	25%

General sales tax $774 · peers $1,721 General sales and use tax. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$641	$130	4.9× peerspeers $130	20%

Property tax $641 · peers $130 Property tax levied by the municipality. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$424	$178	2.4× peerspeers $178	13%

Licenses & permits $385 · peers $119 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) $39 · peers $73 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Census line items T15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T20 Licenses & permits T28 Licenses & permits T29 Licenses & permits
	$240	$271	11% below peerspeers $271	8%

Sewer charges $156 · peers $109 General government (other) charges $76 · peers $8 Parks & recreation charges $8 · peers $0 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Census line items A61 Parks & recreation charges A80 Sewer charges A89 General government (other) charges
	$128	$304	58% below peerspeers $304	4%

State aid $99 · peers $196 Local government aid $26 · peers $0 Federal aid $3 · peers $2 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Census line items B89 Federal aid C89 State aid D89 Local government aid
None reported · peers $382	$0	$382	None reported	0%

Mead reported nothing in this category for FY2021. Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems.

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$2,391

per resident24% below peers

Money out: Mead 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
	$1,234	$1,255	in line with peerspeers $1,255	52%

General government (other) $855 · peers $694 incl. $132 construction General public buildings $378 · peers $136 incl. $371 construction incl. $502 construction Administration, finance, legal and courts, public buildings and other general government. Census line items E31 General public buildings E89 General government (other) F31 General public buildings F89 General government (other)
	$394	$190	2.1× peerspeers $190	16%

Parks & recreation $209 · peers $179 incl. $83 construction Housing & community development $184 · peers $9 incl. $83 construction Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Census line items E50 Housing & community development E61 Parks & recreation F61 Parks & recreation
	$316	$298	6% above peerspeers $298	13%

Streets & highways $316 · peers $201 incl. $316 construction incl. $316 construction Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports. Census line items F44 Streets & highways
	$298	$679	56% below peerspeers $679	12%

Police $298 · peers $669 incl. $1 construction incl. $1 construction Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Census line items E62 Police F62 Police
	$137	$735	81% below peerspeers $735	6%

Sewer $136 · peers $48 incl. $39 construction Natural resources $1 · peers $54 incl. $39 construction Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Census line items E59 Natural resources E80 Sewer F80 Sewer
	$13	$103	88% below peerspeers $103	1%

Interest on debt $13 · peers $103 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

Mead 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

Mead compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
Mead	$3,154	$2,391	$1,839	$774	$299
EatonUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 25.9% 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.	$1,473	Withheld Eaton · Expenditures per resident · FY2021 Reason: Expenditures per resident is 13% of the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	Withheld Eaton · Tax revenue per resident · FY2021 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 29% of the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$387	$358
DaconoUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 18.5% 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.	$2,303	$2,833	$948	$393	$4,422
Estes ParkUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 48.6% 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 4.2× the Colorado median.	$9,298	$9,364	$3,952	$3,638	$7,026
EdgewaterUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 9.5% 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 1.9× the Colorado median.	$2,820	$2,654	$1,731	$1,616	$140
Manitou SpringsUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 7.0% 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 2.1× the Colorado median.	$5,112	$3,448	$2,888	$1,827	$959
Peer median	$2,820	$3,140	$2,310	$1,616	$959

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. 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	$1,149	$1,258	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021	$3,154	$2,820	$2,476 (227 reporting)

Expenditures per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2021. 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	$1,133	$1,273	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021	$2,391	$3,140	$2,208 (220 reporting)

Tax revenue per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2021. 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	$787	$418	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021	$1,839	$2,310	$1,072 (201 reporting)

Debt per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2021. 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	$398	$708	$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021	$299	$959	$1,411 (199 reporting)

Questions about Mead’s finances

How much revenue does Mead collect per resident?: Mead collected $3,154 per resident in FY2021, 27% above the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Mead's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Mead spent $2,391 per resident in FY2021, 24% below the median of its peers: Eaton, Dacono, Estes Park, Edgewater and Manitou Springs. See the figure
How much debt does Mead have per resident?: Mead carried $299 of debt per resident in FY2021, 69% below its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Mead compared with?: Mead is compared with Eaton, Dacono, Estes Park, Edgewater and Manitou 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): +2.0%/yr; 2021 estimate
Median household income: $103.4K; 2021 estimate
Poverty rate: 5.2%; 2021 estimate
Median home value: $407.4K; 2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate: 4.3%; 2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Northern Front Range

Dacono$2,303 · FY2021
Eaton$1,473 · FY2021
Estes Park$11,394 · FY2023
Lochbuie$1,799 · FY2021
Milliken$1,700 · FY2022
Fort Lupton$6,892 · FY2023
Platteville$2,711 · FY2021
Ault$2,178 · FY2021

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: Mead, 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 Mead’s largest difference from its peers (81% 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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Mead · 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

Mead and its peers

Trends

Questions about Mead’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Northern Front Range

Sources

Utilities & environment is Mead’s largest difference from its peers (81% below the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.