Ouray · FY2016 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); FY2016 per-resident figures use 1,026 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

You’re viewing FY2016. See the latest view (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

FY2016 in brief

Ouray collected $4,466 per resident (including city-run utilities), 2.6× the median of the 224 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 58% above its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 2.6× the state median. Debt per resident runs 84% below peers.

Regional hub: sales tax per resident is 1.7× 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)

$4,466

58% above peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $2,819
CO median · 224 with a published figure Median of the 224 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $1,746
Position: Higher than 91% of the 224 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$4,555

44% above peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $3,153
CO median · 196 with a published figure Median of the 196 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $1,749
Position: Higher than 90% of the 196 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$1,809

2.6× CO median

Peer median: Benchmark unavailable
CO median · 193 with a published figure Median of the 193 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $705
Position: Higher than 88% of the 193 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Debt per resident (definition)

$767

84% below peers

Peer median: $4,659
CO median · 220 with a published figure Median of the 220 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 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 40% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $4,466

Includes Census estimates for 100% of revenue

1Metric
$4,466 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $4.6M ÷ population 1,026 (2016 estimate)
3Census line items
- A61 Parks & recreation charges
- A80 Sewer charges
- A81 Solid waste charges
- A89 General government (other) charges
- A91 Water utility charges
- C30 State aid
- C46 State aid
- C89 State aid
- C91 State aid
- D30 Local government aid
- D46 Local government aid
- D91 Local government aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T20 Licenses & permits
- T24 Licenses & permits
- T29 Licenses & permits
- U20 Interest earnings
- U30 Fines & forfeits
- U40 Rents
- U50 Private donations
4Source file
- Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2017 - Individual Unit File
  Value for
  FY2016
  Survey file
  2017
  The 2017 Census survey covers fiscal years ending July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017, so a fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 is FY2016.
  Retrieved October 12, 2026 · View source: Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2017 - Individual Unit File (opens in a new tab)
- Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2020 - incorporated places
  Value for
  FY2016
  Source year
  2020
  Retrieved October 7, 2026 · View source: Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2020 - incorporated places (opens in a new tab)

What the numbers mean

Ouray runs city-owned utilities, which add 8.6% 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 1,026 residents, small changes in Ouray's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.
Part of Ouray's FY2016 revenue is a Census Bureau estimate, not a reported figure. How estimates are handled

Where the money comes from and where it goes

Per resident, FY2016. Bars show Ouray; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

Regional hub: sales tax per resident is 1.7× 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: $1,396 per resident, 5.7× the peer median. On the revenue side, fees & charges is 3.3× peers.

Money in

Revenue

$4,466

per resident58% above peers

Money in: Ouray revenue per resident by category, FY2016, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
Category	Per resident	Peer median	vs peers	Share of revenue
	$1,955	$591	3.3× peerspeers $591	44%

Parks & recreation charges $1,326 · peers $8 Sewer charges $394 · peers $497 Solid waste charges $157 · peers $0 General government (other) charges $79 · peers $5 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items A61 Parks & recreation charges A80 Sewer charges A81 Solid waste charges A89 General government (other) charges
Peer median unavailable	$932	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	21%

General sales tax $932 General sales and use tax. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T09 General sales tax
Peer median unavailable	$557	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	12%

Property tax $557 Property tax levied by the municipality. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$385	$766	50% below peerspeers $766	9%

Water utility charges $385 · peers $350 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
Peer median unavailable	$321	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	7%

Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) $254 Licenses & permits $66 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T20 Licenses & permits T24 Licenses & permits T29 Licenses & permits
	$244	$367	34% below peerspeers $367	5%

State aid $189 · peers $146 Local government aid $55 · peers $178 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items C30 State aid C46 State aid C89 State aid C91 State aid D30 Local government aid D46 Local government aid D91 Local government aid
	$73	$86	15% below peerspeers $86	2%

Rents $42 · peers $0 Interest earnings $16 · peers $2 Fines & forfeits $9 · peers $44 Private donations $7 · peers $0 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items U20 Interest earnings U30 Fines & forfeits U40 Rents U50 Private donations

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 224 reporting

Money out

Spending

$4,555

per resident44% above peers

Money out: Ouray spending per resident by category, FY2016, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
Category	Per resident	Peer median	vs peers	Share of spending
	$1,396	$244	5.7× peerspeers $244	31%

Parks & recreation $1,396 · peers $244 incl. $21 construction incl. $21 construction Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E61 Parks & recreation G61 Parks & recreation
	$1,291	$948	36% above peerspeers $948	28%

Water utility $644 · peers $279 incl. $396 construction Sewer $463 · peers $526 incl. $15 construction Solid waste $184 · peers $0 incl. $410 construction Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E80 Sewer E81 Solid waste E91 Water utility F91 Water utility G80 Sewer G91 Water utility
	$762	$981	22% below peerspeers $981	17%

Police $506 · peers $981 Fire protection $140 · peers $0 Protective inspection & regulation $116 · peers $0 Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E24 Fire protection E62 Police E66 Protective inspection & regulation
	$668	$1,102	39% below peerspeers $1,102	15%

General government (other) $289 · peers $846 Central staff services $222 · peers $129 Judicial & legal $70 · peers $7 Financial administration $52 · peers $53 General public buildings $35 · peers $9 Administration, finance, legal and courts, public buildings and other general government. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E23 Financial administration E25 Judicial & legal E29 Central staff services E31 General public buildings E89 General government (other) M29 Central staff services
	$394	$484	19% below peerspeers $484	9%

Streets & highways $394 · peers $484 incl. $28 construction incl. $28 construction Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E44 Streets & highways G44 Streets & highways
	$44	$39	13% above peerspeers $39	1%

Interest on debt $44 · peers $39 Interest paid on the municipality's debt. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items I89 Interest on debt I91 Interest on debt

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 196 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, FY2016. How peers are chosen

Open in Compare

Ouray compared with its peer municipalities, FY2016, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
OurayUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 8.6% of total revenue in FY2016. 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 1.7× the Colorado median.	$4,466	$4,555	$1,809	$932	$767
GeorgetownUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 28.4% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$2,819	$3,153	Withheld Georgetown · Tax revenue per resident · FY2016 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 25% 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.	$668	$4,659
DillonUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 9.5% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$11,299	$10,677	Withheld Dillon · Tax revenue per resident · FY2016 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 7.8x 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 Dillon · Sales tax per resident · FY2016 Reason: Sales tax per resident is 9.7x the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$12,496
RidgwayUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 14.8% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$2,373	$1,940	$1,352	$779	$775
Winter Park	$10,509	$10,124	Withheld Winter Park · Tax revenue per resident · FY2016 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 7.7x 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 Winter Park · Sales tax per resident · FY2016 Reason: Sales tax per resident is 10.4x the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$8,067
IgnacioUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 27.6% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$2,778	$2,306	Withheld Ignacio · Tax revenue per resident · FY2016 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 20% 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.	Withheld Ignacio · Sales tax per resident · FY2016 Reason: Sales tax per resident is 17% 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.	$727
Peer median	$2,819	$3,153	Benchmark unavailable	Benchmark unavailable	$4,659

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 $4,466 per resident in FY2016, 2.6× the median of the 224 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Ouray's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Ouray spent $4,555 per resident in FY2016, 44% above the median of its peers: Georgetown, Dillon, Ridgway, Winter Park and Ignacio. See the figure
How much debt does Ouray have per resident?: Ouray carried $767 of debt per resident in FY2016, 84% below its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Ouray compared with?: Ouray is compared with Georgetown, Dillon, Ridgway, Winter Park and Ignacio: 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): +0.6%/yr; 2016 estimate
Median household income: Not reported for this year
Poverty rate: Not reported for this year
Median home value: Not reported for this year
Housing vacancy rate: Not reported for this year

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

Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2017 - Individual Unit File · 2017 survey file
U.S. Census Bureau
Retrieved October 12, 2026View source: Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2017 - Individual Unit File (opens in a new tab)
Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2020 - incorporated places · 2020
U.S. Census Bureau
Retrieved October 7, 2026View source: Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2020 - 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 (5.7× the peer median in FY2016). 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 · FY2016 municipal finance benchmarks

FY2016 in brief

FY2016 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 (5.7× the peer median in FY2016). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.