Rico · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

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

Dolores County · Southwest · home rule municipality · Pop. 347 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 306 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Rico: 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

Rico collected $1,918 per resident (including city-run utilities), 23% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 36% below its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits in line with its peers, but 8% above 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)

$1,918

36% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $2,978
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 33% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +2.6%/yr

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$1,402

43% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $2,464
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 24% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +0.7%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$1,160

in line with peers

Peer median: $1,217
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 53% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +7.3%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

Peer median: Not reported for this year
CO median: Not reported for this year
Position: Not reported for this year
5-year change: Not reported for this year

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $1,918

Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

1Metric
$1,918 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $587K ÷ population 306 (2021 estimate)
3Census line items
- A91 Water utility charges
- C89 State aid
- D89 Local government aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T20 Licenses & permits
- T24 Licenses & permits
- T27 Licenses & permits
- U20 Interest earnings
- 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

Rico runs city-owned utilities, which add 24.2% 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 306 residents, small changes in Rico'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 Rico; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is General government: $340 per resident, 69% below the peer median. On the revenue side, Rico reports no fees & charges; peers collect $348 per resident.

Money in

Revenue

$1,918

per resident36% below peers

Money in: Rico 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
	$752	$738	in line with peerspeers $738	39%

General sales tax $752 · peers $738 General sales and use tax. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$464	$757	39% below peerspeers $757	24%

Water utility charges $464 · peers $757 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
	$366	$267	37% above peerspeers $267	19%

Property tax $366 · peers $267 Property tax levied by the municipality. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$235	$176	34% above peerspeers $176	12%

State aid $196 · peers $110 Local government aid $39 · peers $0 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Census line items C89 State aid D89 Local government aid
	$59	$54	9% above peerspeers $54	3%

Fines & forfeits $39 · peers $7 Rents $16 · peers $3 Interest earnings $3 · peers $0 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Census line items U20 Interest earnings U30 Fines & forfeits U40 Rents
	$42	$90	53% below peerspeers $90	2%

Licenses & permits $42 · peers $8 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Census line items T20 Licenses & permits T24 Licenses & permits T27 Licenses & permits
None reported · peers $348	$0	$348	None reported	0%

Rico reported nothing in this category for FY2021. Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports.

Peer median of 4 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$1,402

per resident43% below peers

Money out: Rico 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
	$967	$779	24% above peerspeers $779	69%

Water utility $967 · peers $509 incl. $627 construction incl. $627 construction Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Census line items E91 Water utility F91 Water utility
	$340	$1,104	69% below peerspeers $1,104	24%

Central staff services $245 · peers $769 General public buildings $39 · peers $44 Judicial & legal $36 · peers $0 Financial administration $20 · peers $13 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
	$29	$9	3.3× peerspeers $9	2%

Parks & recreation $29 · peers $9 Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Census line items E61 Parks & recreation
None reported · peers $88	$0	$88	None reported	0%

Rico reported nothing in this category for FY2021. Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports.
None reported · peers $20	$0	$20	None reported	0%

Rico reported nothing in this category for FY2021. Interest paid on the municipality's debt.
None reported · peers $3	$0	$3	None reported	0%

Rico reported nothing in this category for FY2021. Commercial activities and functions outside the categories above.
	Withheld Rico · Public safety · FY2021 Reason: Police spending per resident is 15% 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.	$462	Withheldpeers $462	Withheld

Police Withheld Rico · Police · FY2021 Reason: Police spending per resident is 15% 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. · peers $242 Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Census line items E62 Police F62 Police

Peer median of 4 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Rico 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

Rico compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
RicoUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 24.2% 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.	$1,918	$1,402	$1,160	$752	Not reported for this year
EmpireUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 32.2% 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.	$3,292	$2,484	$1,245	$1,062	Not reported for this year
AlmaUtilities: 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 1.7× the Colorado median.	$2,983	$2,445	$1,809	$1,431	$294
BlancaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 17.4% 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.	$1,843	$1,562	$795	$414	$644
Red CliffUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 42.6% 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.	$2,972	$3,303	$1,189	$398	$516
Peer median	$2,978	$2,464	$1,217	$738	Not reported for this year

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	$1,683	$3,192	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021	$1,918	$2,978	$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	$1,355	$1,078	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021	$1,402	$2,464	$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	$817	$378	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021	$1,160	$1,217	$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	$61	$1,258	$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021	—	—	—

Questions about Rico’s finances

How much revenue does Rico collect per resident?: Rico collected $1,918 per resident in FY2021, 23% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Rico's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Rico spent $1,402 per resident in FY2021, 43% below the median of its peers: Empire, Alma, Blanca and Red Cliff. See the figure
Which cities is Rico compared with?: Rico is compared with Empire, Alma, Blanca and Red Cliff: 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): +3.2%/yr; 2021 estimate
Median household income: $54.8K; 2021 estimate
Poverty rate: 10.4%; 2021 estimate
Median home value: $402.7K; 2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate: 34.3%; 2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Southwest

Dove Creek
Silverton$5,664 · FY2021
Ignacio$4,995 · FY2022
Dolores$2,484 · FY2023
Mancos$2,703 · FY2021
Pagosa Springs$3,435 · FY2016
Bayfield$1,800 · FY2021
Cortez$3,373 · 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: Rico, 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 Rico’s largest difference from its peers (69% below 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

Rico · 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

Rico and its peers

Trends

Questions about Rico’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Southwest

Sources

General government is Rico’s largest difference from its peers (69% below the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.