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Rifle · FY2023 municipal finance benchmarks

Garfield County · Western Slope · home rule municipality · Pop. 10,844 (2025 estimate); FY2023 per-resident figures use 10,641 · Census finance data FY2016–FY2023

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Rifle: FY2023. Retrieved Oct 2026. Newer years are added when the Census Bureau publishes them. Why the lag?

City website (opens in a new tab)

Compare

FY2023 in brief

Rifle collected $3,545 per resident (including city-run utilities), in line with the median of the 97 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 5% above its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 9% below its peers, but in line with the state median. Debt per resident runs 33% above peers.

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

Compared with

Nearest on population, household income and region

FY2023 headline figures

Revenue per resident (definition)

$3,545
5% above peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$3,373
CO median · 97 with a published figure
$3,580
Position
Higher than 49% of the 97 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+10.8%/yr
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$2,589
14% below peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$3,005
CO median · 91 with a published figure
$3,680
Position
Higher than 26% of the 91 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+6.8%/yr

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$1,676
9% below peers
Peer median
$1,841
CO median · 90 with a published figure
$1,726
Position
Higher than 48% of the 90 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+7.4%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$2,552
33% above peers
Peer median
$1,920
CO median · 91 with a published figure
$2,130
Position
Higher than 54% of the 91 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−7.0%/yr
How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $3,545
Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

  1. 1Metric

    $3,545 Total revenue divided by population

    = Total revenue ÷ population

    Full definition: Revenue per resident

  2. 2Inputs

    Total revenue $37.7M ÷ population 10,641 (2023 estimate)

  3. 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
    • T01 Property tax
    • T09 General sales tax
    • T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T28 Licenses & permits
    • T29 Licenses & permits
    • U11 Sale of property
    • U20 Interest earnings
    • U99 Miscellaneous

  4. 4Source file

What the numbers mean

  • Rifle runs city-owned utilities, which add 18.4% 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
  • Rifle relies on sales tax more than most Colorado municipalities. Tourism and regional retail can raise sales tax per resident because non-residents pay it.

Where the money comes from and where it goes

Per resident, FY2023. Bars show Rifle; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is Parks, libraries & community: $411 per resident, 44% below the peer median. On the revenue side, other revenue is 64% below peers.

Money in

Revenue

$3,545
per resident5% above peers
Money in: Rifle revenue per resident by category, FY2023, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$1,48515% abovepeers $1,287
$670in line withpeers $652
$65252% abovepeers $428
$29812% belowpeers $337
$24964% belowpeers $688
$10923% belowpeers $141
$8374% belowpeers $313
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 97 reporting

Money out

Spending

$2,589
per resident14% below peers
Money out: Rifle spending per resident by category, FY2023, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$79722% belowpeers $1,025
$67430% belowpeers $969
$41144% belowpeers $739
$36038% belowpeers $585
$28438% belowpeers $458
$6441% abovepeers $45
None reported · peers $23$0None reported
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 91 reporting

Rifle 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, FY2023. How peers are chosen

Open in Compare
Rifle compared with its peer municipalities, FY2023, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
RifleUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 18.4% of total revenue in FY2023. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$3,545$2,589$1,676$1,485$2,552
Glenwood SpringsUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 24.4% of total revenue in FY2023. 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 2.5× the Colorado median.$8,323$8,073$3,584$2,875$1,712
DeltaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 38.3% of total revenue in FY2023. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$2,539$2,979$838$811$2,567
Steamboat SpringsRegional hub: Sales tax per resident is 3.0× the Colorado median.$8,437$5,902$5,636$3,477$2,128
AlamosaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 8.4% of total revenue in FY2023. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$2,698$2,989$1,013$947$1,015
CortezUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 12.7% of total revenue in FY2023. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$3,373$3,005$1,841$1,287Not reported for this year
Peer median$3,373$3,005$1,841$1,287$1,920

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
FY2016 $2,617 to FY2023 $3,545.$0$2.2K$4.5K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,732Peer median FY2017: $4,476Peer median FY2018: $2,127Peer median FY2019: $2,176Peer median FY2020: $2,377Peer median FY2021: $2,408Peer median FY2022: $2,591Peer median FY2023: $3,373Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $2,617FY2017: $2,646FY2018: $2,119FY2019: $2,218FY2020: $2,146FY2021: $2,773FY2022: $2,927FY2023: $3,545

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023. 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$2,617$1,732$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2017$2,646$4,476$2,694 (35 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$2,119$2,127$2,529 (75 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$2,218$2,176$2,694 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$2,146$2,377$2,739 (76 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$2,773$2,408$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2022$2,927$2,591$3,031 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$3,545$3,373$3,580 (97 reporting, sample year)
Expenditures per resident
FY2016 $2,402 to FY2023 $2,589.$0$2.3K$4.5K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $1,532Peer median FY2017: $4,532Peer median FY2018: $2,072Peer median FY2019: $2,120Peer median FY2020: $2,057Peer median FY2021: $2,370Peer median FY2022: $2,584Peer median FY2023: $3,005Colorado median FY2016: $1,749 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,208 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $2,402FY2017: $2,521FY2018: $1,860FY2019: $1,987FY2020: $1,927FY2021: $2,460FY2022: $3,227. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.FY2023: $2,589. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Census definition change: Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023, the same year as the census definition change. 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$2,402$1,532$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2017$2,521$4,532$2,663 (35 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$1,860$2,072$2,387 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,987$2,120$2,759 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,927$2,057$2,485 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$2,460$2,370$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2022$3,227$2,584$3,025 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$2,589$3,005$3,680 (91 reporting, sample year)
Tax revenue per resident
FY2016 $1,221 to FY2023 $1,676.$0$1.2K$2.5K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2016: $768Peer median FY2017: $2,486Peer median FY2018: $951Peer median FY2019: $1,057Peer median FY2020: $1,212Peer median FY2021: $1,215Peer median FY2022: $1,285Peer median FY2023: $1,841Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,221FY2017: $1,276FY2018: $1,173FY2019: $1,251FY2020: $1,239FY2021: $1,472FY2022: $1,555FY2023: $1,676

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023. 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
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$1,221$768$705 (193 reporting)
FY2017$1,276$2,486$1,098 (34 reporting, sample year)
FY2018$1,173$951$1,173 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,251$1,057$1,187 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,239$1,212$1,238 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$1,472$1,215$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2022$1,555$1,285$1,631 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$1,676$1,841$1,726 (90 reporting, sample year)
Debt per resident
FY2018 $3,669 to FY2023 $2,552.$0$1.8K$3.7K’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23Peer median FY2018: $2,834Peer median FY2019: $2,007Peer median FY2020: $2,201Peer median FY2021: $1,895Peer median FY2022: $1,761Peer median FY2023: $1,920Colorado median FY2021: $1,411 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2018: $3,669FY2019: $3,404FY2020: $2,957FY2021: $3,076FY2022: $2,821FY2023: $2,552

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, FY2023. 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———
FY2017———
FY2018$3,669$2,834$1,644 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$3,404$2,007$1,627 (69 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$2,957$2,201$1,798 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$3,076$1,895$1,411 (199 reporting)
FY2022$2,821$1,761$2,068 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2023$2,552$1,920$2,130 (91 reporting, sample year)

Questions about Rifle’s finances

How much revenue does Rifle collect per resident?
Rifle collected $3,545 per resident in FY2023, in line with the median of the 97 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Rifle's spending per resident compare with similar cities?
Rifle spent $2,589 per resident in FY2023, 14% below the median of its peers: Glenwood Springs, Delta, Steamboat Springs, Alamosa and Cortez. See the figure
How much debt does Rifle have per resident?
Rifle carried $2,552 of debt per resident in FY2023, 33% above its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Rifle compared with?
Rifle is compared with Glenwood Springs, Delta, Steamboat Springs, Alamosa and Cortez: 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)
+1.7%/yr
2023 estimate
Median household income
$80.6K
2023 estimate
Poverty rate
5.4%
2023 estimate
Median home value
$377.9K
2023 estimate
Housing vacancy rate
4.2%
2023 estimate

Explore further

Also in Western Slope

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Rifle, 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 Rifle’s largest difference from its peers (44% below the peer median in FY2023). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.

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