Budget Explorer · City of Boulder

Where the money comes from, and where it goes

Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for City of Boulder, on the same Census classification used for every city, county, and state in the Library — so the figures line up with peers rather than with the government's own budget book. Latest year: FY ending Dec 31, 2023. City of Boulder's own 2026 budget, in its own structure, follows below.

Audited actuals · Census classification · 105K residents

At a glance

Total revenue

$364M

$3,447 per resident

Total spending

$416M

$3,943 per resident

Spending per resident

$3,943

53rd percentile of 71

Debt outstanding

$232M

$2,202 per resident · 22nd percentile of 70

Own-source share

96%

99th percentile of 71

Capital share

18%

51st percentile of 71

Where the money comes from

$364M total

Own-source revenue (taxes, charges, interest) versus aid from other governments. Utility and trust revenue are shown alongside general revenue but run on their own books.

Property tax$54M15%
General sales tax$112M31%
Selective sales taxes$16M5%
License & other taxes$32M9%
Federal aid$1.8M0%
State & local aid$12M3%
Charges & fees$74M20%
Interest, fines, other$25M7%
Utility revenue$37M10%

Own-source share of general revenue 96% · federal aid 1% · property tax is 25% of taxes

Where it goes

$416M total

Current operations plus capital outlay, grouped by Census function. Interest on debt and transfers to other governments are broken out so they are not hidden inside services.

Public safety$97M23%
General government$90M22%
Environment & housing$80M19%
Utilities (water, power, gas)$51M12%
Culture & recreation$49M12%
Transportation$34M8%
Interest on debt$9.4M2%
Health & hospitals$4.2M1%

Show top functions with operating vs. capital ▸

Function	Category	Operating	Capital	Total
Water utility	Utilities (water, power, gas)	$21M	$31M	$51M
Police protection	Public safety	$47M	—	$47M
Parks & recreation	Culture & recreation	$46M	—	$46M
Sewerage	Environment & housing	$24M	$22M	$46M
General (unallocable)	General government	$17M	$22M	$39M
Housing & community development	Environment & housing	$33M	—	$33M
Protective inspection & regulation	Public safety	$26M	—	$26M
Fire protection	Public safety	$24M	—	$24M
Highways	Transportation	$24M	—	$24M
Central staff services	General government	$21M	—	$21M
General public buildings	General government	$14M	—	$14M
Financial administration	General government	$9.0M	—	$9.0M
Transit	Transportation	$8.2M	—	$8.2M
Judicial & legal	General government	$7.5M	—	$7.5M

Trend · 3 fiscal years

Nominal dollars. The Census Bureau cautions that single-government series are edited only for aggregates — read direction, not decimals.

Revenue

+15% over 2 yrs

$317M → $364M

Spending

+57% over 2 yrs

$265M → $416M

Debt outstanding

+11% over 2 yrs

$209M → $232M

How it compares · 71 cities and counties in the Library

Percentile within the cohort on each place's latest Census year. Higher is not better — the last column says what a high reading means so you can decide whether it matters here.

Measure	City of Boulder	Cohort median	Percentile	Higher means
Spending per resident	$3,943	$3,741	53rd	more spent per resident
Revenue per resident	$3,447	$3,548	46th	more raised per resident
Taxes per resident	$2,033	$1,328	75th	heavier own-tax load
Debt per resident	$2,202	$3,865	22nd	more borrowed per resident
Own-source share of revenue	96%	81%	99th	less dependent on aid
Federal aid share of revenue	1%	7%	9th	more exposed to federal cuts
Capital share of spending	18%	18%	51st	more building, less operating
Interest share of spending	2%	4%	22nd	more spend servicing debt
Debt ÷ annual revenue	0.64×	1.05×	24th	more leveraged

About this data

Census classification categories, not this government's own budget structure. Figures are audited actuals for the fiscal year shown, not the adopted budget.
The Census Bureau edits unit-level data only to produce state and national aggregates and advises against reading it as a precise time series for any single government; treat year-over-year moves under ~5% as noise.
Employee-retirement-system revenue is excluded (published separately by Census). Utility and insurance-trust revenue are shown separately from general revenue.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (Individual Unit public-use files), unit 082013161337 (Boulder City). Retrieved 2026-09-07. Classification manual.

Spot an error, or know a better source for this place's adopted budget? Suggest an edit on the assessment.

Approved budget · 2026

City of Boulder's own budget, in its own structure, read from its published budget book and checked against the total the document itself prints. This is the current year — more recent than the Census series above, but only comparable to this city's own history. Totals cover 19 departments.

$194M total

Police$50M26%
General Government$38M20%
Fire-Rescue$29M15%
Housing & Human Services$13M7%
Innovation & Technology$10M5%
City Manager's Office$9.7M5%
Facilities & Fleet$6.9M4%
Finance$6.9M4%
Parks & Recreation$6.5M3%
City Attorney's Office$5.1M3%
Human Resources$4.5M2%
Communications & Engagement$3.9M2%
All other (7)$10.0M5%

Parsed from the published budget book (pages 227-227) — General Fund only.
Figures are checked against the total the document itself prints before publishing.
General Fund only. Boulder's department pages across all funds add to about $552M before internal service funds and transfers are removed.
General Government is a citywide line rather than a department.
Boulder calls its adopted budget 'approved' and budgets on a calendar year; its 2027 budget was only recommended when this was captured.
Source: 2026 Annual Budget (General Fund Fund Financial, fund 1100) (published budget book), retrieved 2026-09-13. Open the source document.

Looking for how this fits City of Boulder's capacity to deliver? The fiscal dimension, binding constraint, and pathways live in the City of Boulder capacity assessment.