Merino · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

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

Logan County · Eastern Plains · statutory town · Pop. 276 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 284 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Merino: 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

Merino collected $1,106 per resident (including city-run utilities), 55% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, in line with its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 74% above its peers, but 84% below the state median. Debt per resident runs 37% 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

Revenue per resident (definition)

$1,106

in line with peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $1,091
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 10% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$951

6% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $1,011
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 8% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: −36.3%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$176

74% above peers

Peer median: $101
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 7% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Debt per resident (definition)

$894

37% below CO median

Peer median: Benchmark unavailable
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 35% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: −20.7%/yr

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $1,106

Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

1Metric
$1,106 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $314K ÷ population 284 (2021 estimate)
3Census line items
- A80 Sewer charges
- A89 General government (other) charges
- A91 Water utility charges
- B89 Federal aid
- T01 Property tax
- T15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T99 Other taxes
- U40 Rents
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

Merino runs city-owned utilities, which add 35.0% 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
With about 284 residents, small changes in Merino's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.

Where the money comes from and where it goes

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

The biggest difference from peers is General government: $349 per resident, 2.2× the peer median. On the revenue side, utility & transit charges is 28% above peers.

Money in

Revenue

$1,106

per residentin line with peers

Money in: Merino 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
	$391	$318	23% above peerspeers $318	35%

Sewer charges $204 · peers $189 General government (other) charges $187 · peers $0 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Census line items A80 Sewer charges A89 General government (other) charges
	$387	$302	28% above peerspeers $302	35%

Water utility charges $387 · peers $302 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
	$123	$159	23% below peerspeers $159	11%

Federal aid $123 · peers $0 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Census line items B89 Federal aid
	$92	$23	4.0× peerspeers $23	8%

Other taxes $53 · peers $0 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) $39 · peers $20 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Census line items T15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T99 Other taxes
	$85	$73	16% above peerspeers $73	8%

Property tax $85 · peers $73 Property tax levied by the municipality. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$28	$16	80% above peerspeers $16	3%

Rents $28 · peers $0 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Census line items U40 Rents

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$951

per resident6% below peers

Money out: Merino 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
	$349	$158	2.2× peerspeers $158	37%

General government (other) $349 · peers $39 Administration, finance, legal and courts, public buildings and other general government. Census line items E89 General government (other)
	$296	$481	38% below peerspeers $481	31%

Water utility $229 · peers $245 Sewer $67 · peers $95 Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Census line items E80 Sewer E91 Water utility
	$187	$39	4.7× peerspeers $39	20%

Fire protection $187 · peers $0 Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Census line items E24 Fire protection
	$63	$2	29.5× peerspeers $2	7%

Streets & highways $63 · peers $2 Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports. Census line items E44 Streets & highways
	$39	$34	13% above peerspeers $34	4%

Interest on debt $39 · peers $34 Interest paid on the municipality's debt. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items I89 Interest on debt
	$18	$15	18% above peerspeers $15	2%

Parks & recreation $18 · peers $15 Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Census line items E61 Parks & recreation

Peer median of 4 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Merino 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

Merino compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
MerinoUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 35.0% 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.	$1,106	$951	$176	Not reported for this year	$894
HillroseUtilities: 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.	$1,163	$879	$101	Not reported for this year	$1,569
Olney SpringsUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 35.4% 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.	$741	$1,144	Withheld Olney Springs · Tax revenue per resident · FY2021 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 14% 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.	Not reported for this year	$2,563
Kit CarsonUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 52.0% 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.	$1,091	$461	Withheld Kit Carson · Tax revenue per resident · FY2021 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 3.3x the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$217	Not reported for this year
IliffUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 36.1% 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.	$837	Withheld Iliff · Expenditures per resident · FY2021 Reason: Expenditures per resident is 31% 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.	$78	Not reported for this year	Not reported for this year
CherawUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 9.7% 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.	$1,687	$1,687	$112	Not reported for this year	Not reported for this year
Peer median	$1,091	$1,011	$101	Not reported for this year	Benchmark unavailable

Utilities marks a municipality whose revenue and spending include city-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit), which raises its per-resident totals.

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

FY2016 withheld: Revenue per resident is 3.6x the peer median

Show data table

Revenue per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	Withheld (Revenue per resident is 3.6x the peer median)	Benchmark unavailable	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021	$1,106	$1,091	$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	$9,067	$3,938	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021	$951	$1,011	$2,208 (220 reporting)

Tax revenue per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

FY2016 withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 69.8x the peer median

Show data table

Tax revenue per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	Withheld (Tax revenue per resident is 69.8x the peer median)	Benchmark unavailable	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021	$176	$101	$1,072 (201 reporting)

Debt per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Show data table

Debt per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$2,856	$1,368	$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021	$894	Benchmark unavailable	$1,411 (199 reporting)

Questions about Merino’s finances

How much revenue does Merino collect per resident?: Merino collected $1,106 per resident in FY2021, 55% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Merino's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Merino spent $951 per resident in FY2021, 6% below the median of its peers: Hillrose, Olney Springs, Kit Carson, Iliff and Cheraw. See the figure
How much debt does Merino have per resident?: Merino carried $894 of debt per resident in FY2021, 37% below the Colorado median. See the figure
Which cities is Merino compared with?: Merino is compared with Hillrose, Olney Springs, Kit Carson, Iliff and Cheraw: 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): 0.0%/yr; 2021 estimate
Median household income: $55.2K; 2021 estimate
Poverty rate: 8.8%; 2021 estimate
Median home value: $152.7K; 2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate: 17.2%; 2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Eastern Plains

Olney Springs$919 · FY2023
Ovid$1,447 · FY2021
Kit Carson$1,091 · FY2021
Iliff$941 · FY2023
Hillrose$1,163 · FY2021
Sugar City$935 · FY2016
Manzanola$2,639 · FY2021
Eckley$2,745 · 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: Merino, 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 Merino’s largest difference from its peers (2.2× 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.

See how it works Talk to us

Merino · 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

Merino and its peers

Trends

Questions about Merino’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Eastern Plains

Sources

General government is Merino’s largest difference from its peers (2.2× the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.