Vail · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

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

Eagle County · Central Mountains & Resort · home rule municipality · Pop. 4,407 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 4,718 · Census finance data FY2016–FY2023

You’re viewing FY2021. See the latest view (FY2023). Latest Census Bureau finance data for Vail: FY2023. 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

Vail collected $21,953 per resident, 8.9× the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 3.2× its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 3.8× its peers, and 15.7× the state median. Debt per resident runs 3.1× peers.

Regional hub: sales tax per resident is 8.6× 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)

$21,953

3.2× peers

Peer median: $6,833
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: Highest of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +11.1%/yr

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$22,889

5.1× peers

Peer median: $4,501
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: Highest of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$16,803

3.8× peers

Peer median: $4,401
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: Highest of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +12.6%/yr

Debt per resident (definition)

$7,163

3.1× peers

Peer median: $2,336
CO median · 199 with a published figure Median of the 199 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.: $1,411
Position: Higher than 92% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: +34.2%/yr

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $21,953

Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

1Metric
$21,953 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $103.6M ÷ population 4,718 (2021 estimate)
3Census line items
- A60 Parking charges
- A61 Parks & recreation charges
- A89 General government (other) charges
- B89 Federal aid
- C89 State aid
- D89 Local government aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T11 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T28 Licenses & permits
- T29 Licenses & permits
- T51 Other taxes
- U11 Sale of property
- U20 Interest earnings
- U30 Fines & forfeits
- U40 Rents
- U50 Private donations
- U99 Miscellaneous
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

With about 4,718 residents, small changes in Vail's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.
Debt per resident is 3.1× 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 Vail; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

Regional hub: sales tax per resident is 8.6× 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 General government: $16,329 per resident, 8.4× the peer median. On the revenue side, other taxes is 4.0× peers.

Money in

Revenue

$21,953

per resident3.2× peers

Money in: Vail 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
	$7,389	$3,328	2.2× peerspeers $3,328	34%

General sales tax $7,389 · peers $3,328 General sales and use tax. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$6,686	$1,685	4.0× peerspeers $1,685	30%

Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) $2,857 · peers $1,609 Other taxes $2,834 · peers $83 Licenses & permits $995 · peers $515 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Census line items T11 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T19 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T28 Licenses & permits T29 Licenses & permits T51 Other taxes
	$2,728	$734	3.7× peerspeers $734	12%

Property tax $2,728 · peers $734 Property tax levied by the municipality. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$2,272	$989	2.3× peerspeers $989	10%

Parking charges $1,496 · peers $0 General government (other) charges $720 · peers $91 Parks & recreation charges $55 · peers $107 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Census line items A60 Parking charges A61 Parks & recreation charges A89 General government (other) charges
	$1,962	$798	2.5× peerspeers $798	9%

Federal aid $780 · peers $68 State aid $732 · peers $297 Local government aid $450 · peers $279 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Census line items B89 Federal aid C89 State aid D89 Local government aid
	$916	$339	2.7× peerspeers $339	4%

Rents $637 · peers $8 Miscellaneous $141 · peers $302 Fines & forfeits $57 · peers $10 Sale of property $39 · peers $12 Interest earnings $39 · peers $1 Private donations $4 · peers $1 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Census line items U11 Sale of property U20 Interest earnings U30 Fines & forfeits U40 Rents U50 Private donations U99 Miscellaneous
None reported · peers $489	$0	$489	None reported	0%

Vail reported nothing in this category for FY2021. Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems.

Peer median of 4 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$22,889

per resident5.1× peers

Money out: Vail 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
	$16,329	$1,949	8.4× peerspeers $1,949	71%

General government (other) $13,574 · peers $226 incl. $9,520 construction Central staff services $1,883 · peers $196 General public buildings $871 · peers $283 incl. $9,520 construction Administration, finance, legal and courts, public buildings and other general government. Census line items E29 Central staff services E31 General public buildings E89 General government (other) F89 General government (other) M89 General government (other)
	$2,685	$552	4.9× peerspeers $552	12%

Police $1,459 · peers $552 Fire protection $1,226 · peers $0 incl. $61 construction incl. $61 construction Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Census line items E24 Fire protection E62 Police F24 Fire protection
	$2,642	$207	12.7× peerspeers $207	12%

Transit $1,201 · peers $0 Streets & highways $1,074 · peers $207 Parking $367 · peers $0 Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports. Census line items E44 Streets & highways E60 Parking E94 Transit
	$1,031	$510	2.0× peerspeers $510	5%

Parks & recreation $808 · peers $473 incl. $755 construction Libraries $224 · peers $0 incl. $755 construction Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Census line items E52 Libraries E61 Parks & recreation F61 Parks & recreation
	$109	$577	81% below peerspeers $577	<1%

Natural resources $109 · peers $0 incl. $2 construction incl. $2 construction Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Census line items E59 Natural resources F59 Natural resources
	$94	$32	2.9× peerspeers $32	<1%

Interest on debt $94 · peers $32 Interest paid on the municipality's debt. Census line items I89 Interest on debt

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Vail 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

Vail compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
VailRegional hub: Sales tax per resident is 8.6× the Colorado median.	$21,953	$22,889	$16,803	$7,389	$7,163
SilverthorneUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 9.8% 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 3.9× the Colorado median.	$7,598	$5,097	$4,321	$3,328	Not reported for this year
BreckenridgeUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 6.3% 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.Regional hub: Sales tax per resident is 7.8× the Colorado median.	$20,388	$18,127	$14,033	$6,761	$23,212
New CastleUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 14.3% 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.	$1,632	$1,394	Withheld New Castle · Tax revenue per resident · FY2021 Reason: Tax revenue 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.	$439	$947
AvonUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 0.5% 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 2.2× the Colorado median.	$6,067	$2,611	$4,481	$1,901	$3,314
Peer median	$6,833	$4,501	$4,401	$2,626	$2,336

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 FY2017, FY2018, 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
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$12,950	$6,747	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2017	$13,230	$2,974	$2,694 (35 reporting, sample year)
FY2018	$14,661	$8,242	$2,529 (75 reporting, sample year)
FY2019	$15,636	$9,560	$2,694 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2020	$17,224	$10,274	$2,739 (76 reporting, sample year)
FY2021	$21,953	$6,833	$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2022	$27,099	$16,339	$3,031 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2023	$28,156	$8,639	$3,580 (97 reporting, sample year)

Expenditures per resident

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 6.2x the peer median

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2019, 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
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	Withheld (Expenditures per resident is 6.2x the peer median)	Benchmark unavailable	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2017	$13,455	$2,800	$2,663 (35 reporting, sample year)
FY2018	$14,529	$5,048	$2,387 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2019	$15,353	$8,041	$2,759 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020	$13,658	$7,997	$2,485 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2021	$22,889	$4,501	$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2022	$23,555	$14,680	$3,025 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023	$25,065	$12,413	$3,680 (91 reporting, sample year)

Tax revenue per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

FY2017 withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 6.2x the peer median

Peer group changed in FY2017, FY2018, FY2019, 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
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$9,282	$4,676	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2017	Withheld (Tax revenue per resident is 6.2x the peer median)	Benchmark unavailable	$1,098 (34 reporting, sample year)
FY2018	$10,837	$1,937	$1,173 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019	$11,612	$2,811	$1,187 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020	$12,790	$10,268	$1,238 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2021	$16,803	$4,401	$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2022	$21,345	$8,756	$1,631 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2023	$19,515	$8,982	$1,726 (90 reporting, sample year)

Debt per resident

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

Debt per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$1,643	$2,483	$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2017	$1,548	$2,248	$1,482 (34 reporting, sample year)
FY2018	$1,477	$2,176	$1,644 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019	$1,393	$6,499	$1,627 (69 reporting, sample year)
FY2020	$2,646	$5,591	$1,798 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2021	$7,163	$2,336	$1,411 (199 reporting)
FY2022	$6,985	$5,614	$2,068 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2023	$8,486	$3,074	$2,130 (91 reporting, sample year)

Questions about Vail’s finances

How much revenue does Vail collect per resident?: Vail collected $21,953 per resident in FY2021, 8.9× the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Vail's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Vail spent $22,889 per resident in FY2021, 5.1× the median of its peers: Silverthorne, Breckenridge, New Castle and Avon. See the figure
How much debt does Vail have per resident?: Vail carried $7,163 of debt per resident in FY2021, 3.1× its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Vail compared with?: Vail is compared with Silverthorne, Breckenridge, New Castle and Avon: 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): −3.6%/yr; 2021 estimate
Median household income: $100.4K; 2021 estimate
Poverty rate: 6.0%; 2021 estimate
Median home value: $729K; 2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate: 68.1%; 2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Central Mountains & Resort

Basalt
Breckenridge$27,953 · FY2023
Silverthorne$8,639 · FY2023
Buena Vista$2,987 · FY2021
Snowmass Village$19,796 · FY2023
Salida$3,661 · FY2023
Frisco$10,679 · FY2023
Leadville

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: Vail, 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 Vail’s largest difference from its peers (8.4× 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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Vail · 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

Vail and its peers

Trends

Questions about Vail’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Central Mountains & Resort

Sources

General government is Vail’s largest difference from its peers (8.4× the peer median in FY2021). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.