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Palisade · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

Mesa County · Western Slope · statutory town · Pop. 2,599 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 2,561 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Palisade: FY2021. Retrieved Oct 2026. Newer years are added when the Census Bureau publishes them. Why the lag?

City website (opens in a new tab)

Compare

FY2021 in brief

Palisade collected $3,787 per resident (including city-run utilities), 53% above the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 2.6× its peers. Debt per resident runs 2.6× peers.

  • Tax revenue per resident withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 5.0x the peer median

Generated from the figures below. Every number links to its Census source.

Compared with

Nearest on population, household income and region

FY2021 headline figures

Revenue per resident (definition)

$3,787
2.6× peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$1,453
CO median · 227 with a published figure
$2,476
Position
Higher than 74% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+26.8%/yr
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$2,513
2.2× peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$1,136
CO median · 220 with a published figure
$2,208
Position
Higher than 61% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+23.5%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

Peer median
Benchmark unavailable
CO median · 201 with a published figure
$1,072
Position
Not reported for this year
5-year changenominal dollars
Withheld with this year's value

Debt per resident (definition)

$1,474
2.6× peers
Peer median
$558
CO median · 199 with a published figure
$1,411
Position
Higher than 52% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+53.9%/yr
How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $3,787
Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

  1. 1Metric

    $3,787 Total revenue divided by population

    = Total revenue ÷ population

    Full definition: Revenue per resident

  2. 2Inputs

    Total revenue $9.7M ÷ population 2,561 (2021 estimate)

  3. 3Census line items

    • A03 Commercial activities (other) charges
    • A61 Parks & recreation charges
    • A80 Sewer charges
    • A91 Water utility charges
    • B89 Federal aid
    • C89 State aid
    • D89 Local government aid
    • T01 Property tax
    • T09 General sales tax
    • T20 Licenses & permits
    • T28 Licenses & permits
    • T29 Licenses & permits
    • U20 Interest earnings
    • U30 Fines & forfeits
    • U40 Rents

  4. 4Source file

What the numbers mean

  • Palisade runs city-owned utilities, which add 11.2% 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 2,561 residents, small changes in Palisade's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.
  • Debt per resident is 2.6× 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 Palisade; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is General government: $807 per resident, 4.3× the peer median. On the revenue side, fees & charges is 30% above peers.

Money in

Revenue

$3,787
per resident2.6× peers
Money in: Palisade revenue per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$42310% belowpeers $469
$36430% abovepeers $281
$32612% abovepeers $291
$1170% belowpeers $35
Withheldpeers $363
Withheldpeers $98
Withheldpeers $72
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$2,513
per resident2.2× peers
Money out: Palisade spending per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$8074.3×peers $186
$7782.2×peers $352
$52912% belowpeers $603
$2322.7×peers $87
$9925% belowpeers $131
$3686% abovepeers $19
$32No peer comparisonpeers $0
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Palisade 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
Palisade compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
PalisadeUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 11.2% 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.$3,787$2,513$1,474
MeekerUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 24.4% 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.$1,182$1,136$739$500Not reported for this year
RangelyUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 28.6% 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.$2,278$2,681$528$368$438
OlatheUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 12.7% 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.$1,276$1,123$464$363$601
CedaredgeUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 28.3% 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.$2,015$1,959$534$351$1,341
Orchard CityUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 32.3% 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.$1,453$695Not reported for this year$516
Peer median$1,453$1,136Benchmark unavailableBenchmark unavailable$558

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
FY2016 $1,156 to FY2021 $3,787.$0$1.9K$3.8K’16’21Peer median FY2016: $1,572Peer median FY2021: $1,453Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,156FY2021: $3,787

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
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$1,156$1,572$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021$3,787$1,453$2,476 (227 reporting)
Expenditures per resident
FY2016 $874 to FY2021 $2,513.$0$1.3K$2.5K’16’21Peer median FY2016: $1,449Peer median FY2021: $1,136Colorado median FY2016: $1,749 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,208 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $874FY2021: $2,513

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
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$874$1,449$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021$2,513$1,136$2,208 (220 reporting)
Tax revenue per resident
FY2016 $492. 1 year withheld.$0$536$1.1K’16’21Peer median FY2016: $408Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $492FY2021: withheld — Tax revenue per resident is 5.0x the peer median

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

  • FY2021 withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 5.0x the peer median
Show data table
Tax revenue per resident by fiscal year
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$492$408$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021Withheld (Tax revenue per resident is 5.0x the peer median)Benchmark unavailable$1,072 (201 reporting)
Debt per resident
FY2016 $171 to FY2021 $1,474.$0$736.8$1.5K’16’21Peer median FY2016: $183Peer median FY2021: $558Colorado median FY2016: $1,072 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,411 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $171FY2021: $1,474

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
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$171$183$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021$1,474$558$1,411 (199 reporting)

Questions about Palisade’s finances

How much revenue does Palisade collect per resident?
Palisade collected $3,787 per resident in FY2021, 53% above the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Palisade's spending per resident compare with similar cities?
Palisade spent $2,513 per resident in FY2021, 2.2× the median of its peers: Meeker, Rangely, Olathe, Cedaredge and Orchard City. See the figure
How much debt does Palisade have per resident?
Palisade carried $1,474 of debt per resident in FY2021, 2.6× its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Palisade compared with?
Palisade is compared with Meeker, Rangely, Olathe, Cedaredge and Orchard City: 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)
−1.6%/yr
2021 estimate
Median household income
$53.6K
2021 estimate
Poverty rate
14.7%
2021 estimate
Median home value
$225.5K
2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate
7.4%
2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Western Slope

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Palisade, 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 Palisade’s largest difference from its peers (4.3× 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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