Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,752
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$9,418
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,183
Colorado costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Colorado — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$51,170
Kept after tax
$41,752
Worth in national money
$41,183
State rank
35
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $51,170, ranking 35 of 50 states — about 16.85% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 338.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $51,170, tax leaves $41,752, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $41,183 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $57,010, since top earners drag the number up.
- Colorado ranks 35 of 50 for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors, with a median of $51,170 — about 16.85% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors sits at 338 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Colorado sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors — median $51,170 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $41,752 retained, $41,183 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $57,010 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,200 |
| This salary | $51,170 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Colorado | $41,752 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,295 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,371 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $49,250 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,077 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,170 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,030 and the ninetieth is $79,200 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $41,752, from $51,170, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 338 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,183, the adjusted value of that $51,170 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 338 of 491 in the state.
- The Colorado median of $51,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,030 to $79,200. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,752 from $51,170. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 338 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $41,183 — the adjusted value of that $51,170 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 338 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $57,010 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $40,030 at the bottom tenth to $79,200 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Colorado run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $41,183 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Colorado then takes its own share, leaving $41,752.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Colorado is $57,010. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($40,030) and the ninetieth ($79,200) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Colorado's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $41,183 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $41,752 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Colorado income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.