Nucla · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

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

Montrose County · Western Slope · statutory town · Pop. 577 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 591 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Nucla: 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

Nucla collected $1,311 per resident (including city-run utilities), 47% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. Tax revenue per resident sits 50% below its peers. Debt per resident runs 95% 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)

$1,311

40% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $2,200
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 15% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +10.2%/yr

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$1,577

in line with peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $1,574
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 31% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$467

50% below peers

Peer median: $935
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 15% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +20.1%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$81

95% below peers

Peer median: $1,779
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 2% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: −15.6%/yr

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $1,311

Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

1Metric
$1,311 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $775K ÷ population 591 (2021 estimate)
3Census line items
- A80 Sewer charges
- A91 Water utility charges
- C89 State aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T28 Licenses & permits
- U30 Fines & forfeits
- 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

Nucla runs city-owned utilities, which add 40.3% 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 591 residents, small changes in Nucla'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 Nucla; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is Utilities & environment: $1,154 per resident, 2.2× the peer median. On the revenue side, sales tax is 50% below peers.

Money in

Revenue

$1,311

per resident40% below peers

Money in: Nucla 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
	$528	$295	79% above peerspeers $295	40%

Water utility charges $528 · peers $295 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
	$369	$740	50% below peerspeers $740	28%

General sales tax $369 · peers $740 General sales and use tax. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$230	$276	17% below peerspeers $276	18%

Sewer charges $230 · peers $240 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Census line items A80 Sewer charges
	$95	$138	31% below peerspeers $138	7%

Property tax $95 · peers $138 Property tax levied by the municipality. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$76	$394	81% below peerspeers $394	6%

State aid $76 · peers $134 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Census line items C89 State aid
	$10	$81	87% below peerspeers $81	1%

Fines & forfeits $7 · peers $15 Rents $3 · peers $0 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Census line items U30 Fines & forfeits U40 Rents
	$3	$37	91% below peerspeers $37	<1%

Licenses & permits $3 · peers $4 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Census line items T28 Licenses & permits

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$1,577

per residentin line with peers

Money out: Nucla 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
	$1,154	$513	2.2× peerspeers $513	73%

Sewer $618 · peers $186 incl. $399 construction Water utility $536 · peers $277 incl. $399 construction Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Census line items E80 Sewer E91 Water utility F80 Sewer
	$195	$55	3.5× peerspeers $55	12%

Parks & recreation $137 · peers $31 Libraries $58 · peers $0 Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Census line items E52 Libraries E61 Parks & recreation
	$124	$686	82% below peerspeers $686	8%

Central staff services $47 · peers $413 General public buildings $34 · peers $0 Judicial & legal $22 · peers $0 Financial administration $20 · peers $0 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
Peer median unavailable	$95	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	6%

Police $90 Protective inspection & regulation $5 · peers $0 Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Census line items E62 Police E66 Protective inspection & regulation
	$7	$19	65% below peerspeers $19	<1%

Streets & highways $7 · peers $19 Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports. Census line items E44 Streets & highways
	$3	$37	91% below peerspeers $37	<1%

Interest on debt $3 · peers $37 Interest paid on the municipality's debt. Census line items I91 Interest on debt

Peer median of 4 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Nucla 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

Nucla compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
NuclaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 40.3% 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.	$1,311	$1,577	$467	$369	$81
SaguacheUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 13.4% 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.	$2,200	$1,423	$935	$740	Not reported for this year
WaldenUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 53.2% 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.	$4,010	$4,292	$997	$815	$2,768
San Luis	$1,744	Withheld San Luis · Expenditures per resident · FY2021 Reason: Expenditures per resident is 24% 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.	$718	$552	$589
La JaraUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 14.5% 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.	$1,548	$1,020	$831	$691	$789
AntonitoUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 10.2% 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.	$2,932	$1,726	$1,712	$1,605	$3,664
Peer median	$2,200	$1,574	$935	$740	$1,779

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	$806	$1,556	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021	$1,311	$2,200	$2,476 (227 reporting)

Expenditures per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

FY2016 withheld: Expenditures per resident is 18% of the peer median

Show data table

Expenditures per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	Withheld (Expenditures per resident is 18% of the peer median)	Benchmark unavailable	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021	$1,577	$1,574	$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	$187	$649	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021	$467	$935	$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	$190	$178	$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021	$81	$1,779	$1,411 (199 reporting)

Questions about Nucla’s finances

How much revenue does Nucla collect per resident?: Nucla collected $1,311 per resident in FY2021, 47% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Nucla's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Nucla spent $1,577 per resident in FY2021, in line with the median of its peers: Saguache, Walden, San Luis, La Jara and Antonito. See the figure
How much debt does Nucla have per resident?: Nucla carried $81 of debt per resident in FY2021, 95% below its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Nucla compared with?: Nucla is compared with Saguache, Walden, San Luis, La Jara and Antonito: 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): −3.1%/yr; 2021 estimate
Median household income: $36.2K; 2021 estimate
Poverty rate: 18.0%; 2021 estimate
Median home value: $117.6K; 2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate: 22.3%; 2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Western Slope

Naturita$2,797 · FY2021
De Beque
Crawford$945 · FY2016
Collbran$4,840 · FY2021
Dinosaur$3,192 · FY2016
Ouray$10,701 · FY2021
Hotchkiss$2,602 · FY2021
Ridgway$3,618 · 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: Nucla, 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 Nucla’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

Nucla · 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

Nucla and its peers

Trends

Questions about Nucla’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Western Slope

Sources

Utilities & environment is Nucla’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.