Orivian

Wellington · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

Larimer County · Northern Front Range · statutory town · Pop. 12,169 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 11,700 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2018, FY2019, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022

You’re viewing FY2021. See the latest view (FY2022). Latest Census Bureau finance data for Wellington: FY2022. 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

Wellington collected $1,669 per resident (including city-run utilities), 33% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. Tax revenue per resident sits 30% below its peers. Debt per resident runs 63% above peers.

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)

$1,669
29% below peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$2,338
CO median · 227 with a published figure
$2,476
Position
Higher than 26% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+7.2%/yr
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$1,408
29% below peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$1,994
CO median · 220 with a published figure
$2,208
Position
Higher than 24% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
Not enough history for a 5-year change

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$665
30% below peers
Peer median
$949
CO median · 201 with a published figure
$1,072
Position
Higher than 26% of the 201 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
Not enough history for a 5-year change

Debt per resident (definition)

$2,081
63% above peers
Peer median
$1,273
CO median · 199 with a published figure
$1,411
Position
Higher than 66% of the 199 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
+56.5%/yr
How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $1,669
Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

  1. 1Metric

    $1,669 Total revenue divided by population

    = Total revenue ÷ population

    Full definition: Revenue per resident

  2. 2Inputs

    Total revenue $19.5M ÷ population 11,700 (2021 estimate)

  3. 3Census line items

    • A03 Commercial activities (other) charges
    • A61 Parks & recreation charges
    • A80 Sewer charges
    • A89 General government (other) charges
    • A91 Water utility charges
    • C89 State aid
    • D89 Local government aid
    • T01 Property tax
    • T09 General sales tax
    • T15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T20 Licenses & permits
    • T24 Licenses & permits
    • T29 Licenses & permits
    • U01 Special assessments
    • U11 Sale of property
    • U20 Interest earnings
    • U30 Fines & forfeits
    • U99 Miscellaneous

  4. 4Source file

What the numbers mean

  • Wellington runs city-owned utilities, which add 23.9% 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

Where the money comes from and where it goes

Per resident, FY2021. Bars show Wellington; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is Utilities & environment: $172 per resident, 79% below the peer median. On the revenue side, sales tax is 29% below peers.

Money in

Revenue

$1,669
per resident29% below peers
Money in: Wellington revenue per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$41429% belowpeers $584
$39915% belowpeers $468
$25996% abovepeers $132
$1842.4×peers $77
$16121% belowpeers $202
$14810% belowpeers $165
$10334% abovepeers $77
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

$1,408
per resident29% below peers
Money out: Wellington spending per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$92977% abovepeers $523
$17279% belowpeers $803
$9732% belowpeers $141
$9324% belowpeers $123
$892.8×peers $31
$2933% abovepeers $22
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Wellington 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
Wellington compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
WellingtonUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 23.9% 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.$1,669$1,408$665$414$2,081
BerthoudUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 8.0% 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.$4,394$3,039$1,426$761
SeveranceUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 20.1% 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.$2,338$1,994$716$395Not reported for this year
MonumentUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 33.3% 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.$1,314$1,458$633$456$1,786
FrederickUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 45.8% 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.$2,036$1,310$949$712$277
FirestoneUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 16.8% 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.$2,786$3,903$1,535$758$4,612
Peer median$2,338$1,994$949$584$1,273

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 $1,178 to FY2022 $1,738.$0$1.8K$3.6K’16’18’19’20’21’22Peer median FY2016: $2,087Peer median FY2018: $3,353Peer median FY2019: $3,584Peer median FY2020: $2,254Peer median FY2021: $2,338Peer median FY2022: $2,857Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $1,178FY2018: $1,707FY2019: $1,332FY2020: $1,739FY2021: $1,669FY2022: $1,738

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022. 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$1,178$2,087$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2018$1,707$3,353$2,529 (75 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,332$3,584$2,694 (73 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,739$2,254$2,739 (76 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$1,669$2,338$2,476 (227 reporting)
FY2022$1,738$2,857$3,031 (72 reporting, sample year)
Expenditures per resident
FY2018 $1,195 to FY2022 $811. 1 year withheld.$0$1.7K$3.3K’16’18’19’20’21’22Peer median FY2018: $2,776Peer median FY2019: $3,348Peer median FY2020: $2,135Peer median FY2021: $1,994Peer median FY2022: $2,112Colorado median FY2016: $1,749 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,208 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2018: $1,195FY2019: $1,107FY2020: $1,267FY2021: $1,408FY2022: $811. Excludes equipment purchases and payments to other governments, which Census stopped reporting after FY2021.FY2016: withheld — Expenditures per resident is 19% 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 19% of this city's typical level in other years

Peer group changed in FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, 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
FY2016Withheld (Expenditures per resident is 19% of this city's typical level in other years)Benchmark unavailable$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2018$1,195$2,776$2,387 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$1,107$3,348$2,759 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$1,267$2,135$2,485 (74 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$1,408$1,994$2,208 (220 reporting)
FY2022$811$2,112$3,025 (71 reporting, sample year)
Tax revenue per resident
FY2018 $495 to FY2022 $688. 1 year withheld.$0$843.8$1.7K’16’18’19’20’21’22Peer median FY2018: $1,344Peer median FY2019: $1,323Peer median FY2020: $1,103Peer median FY2021: $949Peer median FY2022: $1,688Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2018: $495FY2019: $399FY2020: $472FY2021: $665FY2022: $688FY2016: withheld — Tax revenue per resident is 27% of this city's typical level in other years

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

  • FY2016 withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 27% of this city's typical level in other years

Peer group changed in FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022. 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 27% of this city's typical level in other years)Benchmark unavailable$705 (193 reporting)
FY2018$495$1,344$1,173 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$399$1,323$1,187 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$472$1,103$1,238 (72 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$665$949$1,072 (201 reporting)
FY2022$688$1,688$1,631 (71 reporting, sample year)
Debt per resident
FY2016 $221 to FY2022 $1,899.$0$1.6K$3.2K’16’18’19’20’21’22Peer median FY2016: $811Peer median FY2018: $1,064Peer median FY2019: $764Peer median FY2020: $553Peer median FY2021: $1,273Peer median FY2022: $1,575Colorado median FY2016: $1,072 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,411 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $221FY2018: $563FY2019: $3,162FY2020: $2,318FY2021: $2,081FY2022: $1,899

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2018, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022. 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$221$811$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2018$563$1,064$1,644 (70 reporting, sample year)
FY2019$3,162$764$1,627 (69 reporting, sample year)
FY2020$2,318$553$1,798 (71 reporting, sample year)
FY2021$2,081$1,273$1,411 (199 reporting)
FY2022$1,899$1,575$2,068 (73 reporting, sample year)

Questions about Wellington’s finances

How much revenue does Wellington collect per resident?
Wellington collected $1,669 per resident in FY2021, 33% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Wellington's spending per resident compare with similar cities?
Wellington spent $1,408 per resident in FY2021, 29% below the median of its peers: Berthoud, Severance, Monument, Frederick and Firestone. See the figure
How much debt does Wellington have per resident?
Wellington carried $2,081 of debt per resident in FY2021, 63% above its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Wellington compared with?
Wellington is compared with Berthoud, Severance, Monument, Frederick and Firestone: 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)
+8.8%/yr
2021 estimate
Median household income
$94.6K
2021 estimate
Poverty rate
11.4%
2021 estimate
Median home value
$351K
2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate
1.0%
2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Northern Front Range

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Wellington, 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

Utilities & environment is Wellington’s largest difference from its peers (79% 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.

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