Ouray · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

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

Ouray County · Western Slope · home rule municipality · Pop. 929 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 926 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Ouray: 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

Ouray collected $10,701 per resident (including city-run utilities), 4.3× the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 2.7× its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 2.2× its peers, and 4.6× the state median. Debt per resident runs 5.6× peers.

Regional hub: sales tax per resident is 3.9× the Colorado 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)

$10,701

2.7× peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $4,009
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 96% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +19.1%/yr

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$9,219

2.9× peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $3,126
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 95% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +15.1%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$4,883

2.2× peers

Peer median: $2,193
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 95% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +22.0%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$7,982

5.6× peers

Peer median: $1,422
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 93% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +59.8%/yr

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $10,701

Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

1Metric
$10,701 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $9.9M ÷ population 926 (2021 estimate)
3Census line items
- A61 Parks & recreation charges
- A80 Sewer charges
- A81 Solid waste charges
- A89 General government (other) charges
- A91 Water utility charges
- C89 State aid
- D89 Local government aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T29 Licenses & permits
- 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

Ouray runs city-owned utilities, which add 8.5% 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 926 residents, small changes in Ouray's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.
Debt per resident is 5.6× the peer median. One large bond issue can do this; check the city's annual financial report for what it funded.

Where the money comes from and where it goes

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

Regional hub: sales tax per resident is 3.9× the Colorado median.

Sales tax per resident is high, which usually means many non-residents shop, stay or work here. Per-resident figures divide citywide totals by residents only, so they overstate what residents themselves pay and use.

The biggest difference from peers is Parks, libraries & community: $3,408 per resident, 19.1× the peer median. On the revenue side, fees & charges is 8.3× peers.

Money in

Revenue

$10,701

per resident2.7× peers

Money in: Ouray 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
	$4,259	$515	8.3× peerspeers $515	40%

Parks & recreation charges $2,733 · peers $0 Sewer charges $1,234 · peers $339 Solid waste charges $260 · peers $162 General government (other) charges $31 · peers $8 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Census line items A61 Parks & recreation charges A80 Sewer charges A81 Solid waste charges A89 General government (other) charges
	$3,327	$1,907	74% above peerspeers $1,907	31%

General sales tax $3,327 · peers $1,907 General sales and use tax. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$922	$113	8.2× peerspeers $113	9%

Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) $781 · peers $78 Licenses & permits $141 · peers $35 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Census line items T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T29 Licenses & permits
	$907	$568	60% above peerspeers $568	8%

Water utility charges $907 · peers $498 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
	$634	$201	3.1× peerspeers $201	6%

Property tax $634 · peers $201 Property tax levied by the municipality. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$432	$70	6.2× peerspeers $70	4%

Miscellaneous $380 · peers $8 Fines & forfeits $36 · peers $10 Interest earnings $16 · peers $2 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Census line items U20 Interest earnings U30 Fines & forfeits U99 Miscellaneous
	$219	$479	54% below peerspeers $479	2%

State aid $216 · peers $280 Local government aid $3 · peers $59 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Census line items C89 State aid D89 Local government aid

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$9,219

per resident2.9× peers

Money out: Ouray 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
	$3,408	$179	19.1× peerspeers $179	37%

Parks & recreation $3,408 · peers $179 incl. $631 construction incl. $631 construction Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Census line items E61 Parks & recreation F61 Parks & recreation
	$2,692	$574	4.7× peerspeers $574	29%

Sewer $1,336 · peers $181 incl. $747 construction Water utility $1,113 · peers $282 incl. $586 construction Solid waste $238 · peers $80 Natural resources $5 · peers $0 incl. $1,334 construction Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Census line items E59 Natural resources E80 Sewer E81 Solid waste E91 Water utility F80 Sewer F91 Water utility
	$1,653	$754	2.2× peerspeers $754	18%

General government (other) $1,653 · peers $315 incl. $165 construction incl. $165 construction Administration, finance, legal and courts, public buildings and other general government. Census line items E89 General government (other) F89 General government (other)
	$1,135	$815	39% above peerspeers $815	12%

Police $1,135 · peers $815 incl. $226 construction incl. $226 construction Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Census line items E62 Police F62 Police
	$330	$42	7.9× peerspeers $42	4%

Interest on debt $330 · peers $42 Interest paid on the municipality's debt. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items I89 Interest on debt
None reported · peers $229	$0	$229	None reported	0%

Ouray reported nothing in this category for FY2021. Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports.

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Ouray 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

Ouray compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
OurayUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 8.5% 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 3.9× the Colorado median.	$10,701	$9,219	$4,883	$3,327	$7,982
HotchkissUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 20.0% 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.	$2,602	$1,736	$1,072	$948	$342
RidgwayUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 15.7% 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.Regional hub: Sales tax per resident is 1.8× the Colorado median.	$3,618	$2,481	$2,053	$1,553	$1,371
Oak CreekUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 53.3% 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.	$4,009	$3,126	Withheld Oak Creek · Tax revenue per resident · FY2021 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 16% 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 Oak Creek · Sales tax per resident · FY2021 Reason: Sales tax per resident is 21% 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.	$1,856
IgnacioUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 15.2% 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 2.6× the Colorado median.	$5,129	$4,332	$2,333	$2,261	Not reported for this year
Mt. Crested ButteRegional hub: Sales tax per resident is 3.9× the Colorado median.	$7,360	$11,410	$6,746	$3,317	$1,473
Peer median	$4,009	$3,126	$2,193	$1,907	$1,422

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	$4,466	$2,819	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021	$10,701	$4,009	$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	$4,555	$3,153	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021	$9,219	$3,126	$2,208 (220 reporting)

Tax revenue per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Show data table

Tax revenue per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$1,809	Benchmark unavailable	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021	$4,883	$2,193	$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	$767	$4,659	$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021	$7,982	$1,422	$1,411 (199 reporting)

Questions about Ouray’s finances

How much revenue does Ouray collect per resident?: Ouray collected $10,701 per resident in FY2021, 4.3× the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Ouray's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Ouray spent $9,219 per resident in FY2021, 2.9× the median of its peers: Hotchkiss, Ridgway, Oak Creek, Ignacio and Mt. Crested Butte. See the figure
How much debt does Ouray have per resident?: Ouray carried $7,982 of debt per resident in FY2021, 5.6× its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Ouray compared with?: Ouray is compared with Hotchkiss, Ridgway, Oak Creek, Ignacio and Mt. Crested Butte: 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: $65.6K; 2021 estimate
Poverty rate: 1.9%; 2021 estimate
Median home value: $500K; 2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate: 43.6%; 2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Western Slope

Hotchkiss$2,602 · FY2021
Nucla$1,311 · FY2021
Ridgway$3,618 · FY2021
Parachute$3,247 · FY2021
Naturita$2,797 · FY2021
De Beque
Crawford$945 · FY2016
Paonia$2,448 · 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: Ouray, 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

Parks, libraries & community is Ouray’s largest difference from its peers (19.1× 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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Ouray · 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

Ouray and its peers

Trends

Questions about Ouray’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Western Slope

Sources

Parks, libraries & community is Ouray’s largest difference from its peers (19.1× the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.