Orivian

Sterling · FY2016 municipal finance benchmarks

Logan County · Eastern Plains · home rule municipality · Pop. 13,054 (2025 estimate); FY2016 per-resident figures use 14,549 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021, FY2023

You’re viewing FY2016. See the latest view (FY2023). Latest Census Bureau finance data for Sterling: 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

FY2016 in brief

Debt per resident runs 43% above peers.

  • Revenue per resident withheld: Revenue per resident is 2% of this city's typical level in other years
  • Tax revenue per resident withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 5% of this city's typical level in other years

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

Compared with

Nearest on population, household income and region

FY2016 headline figures

Revenue per resident (definition)

Peer median
Benchmark unavailable
CO median · 224 with a published figure
$1,746
Position
Not reported for this year
5-year changenominal dollars
Withheld with this year's value
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

Peer median
Benchmark unavailable
CO median · 196 with a published figure
$1,749
Position
Not reported for this year
5-year changenominal dollars
Withheld with this year's value

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

Peer median
Benchmark unavailable
CO median · 193 with a published figure
$705
Position
Not reported for this year
5-year changenominal dollars
Withheld with this year's value

Debt per resident (definition)

$1,935
43% above peers
Peer median
$1,351
CO median · 220 with a published figure
$1,072
Position
Higher than 69% 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 ·
Withheld pending verification

  1. 1Withheld

    Revenue per resident is 2% of this city's typical level in other years It stays withheld until it is verified against Sterling’s audited financial report.

  2. 2Census line items

    • T01 Property tax
    • U20 Interest earnings

  3. 3Source file

What the numbers mean

No structural factors stand out in the data. The peer comparison below is a fair starting point.

Where the money comes from and where it goes

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

Money in

Revenue

Categories are withheld with the total until it is verified against Sterling’s audited financial report.

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 224 reporting

Money out

Spending

Categories are withheld with the total until it is verified against Sterling’s audited financial report.

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 196 reporting

Sterling 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
Sterling compared with its peer municipalities, FY2016, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
SterlingNot reported for this year$1,935
Fort MorganUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 61.8% 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.$4,784$4,187$795$622$1,417
LamarUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 69.5% 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.$3,364$3,585$603$482$1,161
La JuntaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 60.1% 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.$3,380$2,898$605$539$2,619
BrushUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 11.5% 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.$1,652$1,940$564$299$1,351
Federal HeightsUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 14.2% 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.$1,357$1,199$767$538$103
Peer medianBenchmark unavailableBenchmark unavailableBenchmark unavailableNot reported for this year$1,351

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
FY2021 $2,133 to FY2023 $2,429. 1 year withheld.$0$2.1K$4.3K’16’21’23Peer median FY2021: $3,970Peer median FY2023: $4,292Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2021: $2,133FY2023: $2,429FY2016: withheld — Revenue per resident is 2% of this city's typical level in other years

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

  • FY2016 withheld: Revenue per resident is 2% of this city's typical level in other years

Peer group changed in FY2021, 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
FY2016Withheld (Revenue per resident is 2% of this city's typical level in other years)Benchmark unavailable$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021$2,133$3,970$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2023$2,429$4,292$3,580 (97 reporting, sample year)
Expenditures per resident
FY2021 $2,266 to FY2023 $2,309. 1 year withheld.$0$2.1K$4.2K’16’21’23Peer median FY2021: $3,440Peer median FY2023: $4,235Colorado median FY2016: $1,749 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,208 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2021: $2,266FY2023: $2,309. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.FY2016: withheld — Expenditures per resident is 5% of this city's typical level in other years

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.

  • FY2016 withheld: Expenditures per resident is 5% of this city's typical level in other years

Peer group changed in FY2021, FY2023. 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
FY2016Withheld (Expenditures per resident is 5% of this city's typical level in other years)Benchmark unavailable$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021$2,266$3,440$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2023$2,309$4,235$3,680 (91 reporting, sample year)
Tax revenue per resident
FY2021 $911 to FY2023 $976. 1 year withheld.$0$536$1.1K’16’21’23Peer median FY2021: $748Peer median FY2023: $1,023Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2021: $911FY2023: $976FY2016: withheld — Tax revenue per resident is 5% of this city's typical level in other years

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

  • FY2016 withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 5% of this city's typical level in other years

Peer group changed in FY2021, 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
FY2016Withheld (Tax revenue per resident is 5% of this city's typical level in other years)Benchmark unavailable$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021$911$748$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2023$976$1,023$1,726 (90 reporting, sample year)
Debt per resident
FY2016 $1,935 to FY2023 $5,897.$0$2.9K$5.9K’16’21’23Peer median FY2016: $1,351Peer median FY2021: $1,553Peer median FY2023: $1,392Colorado median FY2016: $1,072 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,411 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,935FY2021: $3,846FY2023: $5,897

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2021, 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$1,935$1,351$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021$3,846$1,553$1,411 (199 reporting)
FY2023$5,897$1,392$2,130 (91 reporting, sample year)

Questions about Sterling’s finances

How much debt does Sterling have per resident?
Sterling carried $1,935 of debt per resident in FY2016, 43% above its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Sterling compared with?
Sterling is compared with Fort Morgan, Lamar, La Junta, Brush and Federal Heights: 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)
−0.2%/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 Eastern Plains

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Sterling, 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

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