Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,670
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$18,410
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,802
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
$82,080
Kept after tax
$63,670
Worth in national money
$62,802
State rank
17
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $82,080, ranking 17 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 133.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $82,080 the take-home is $63,670, which is worth about $62,802 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $90,620, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado occupies the middle band for aircraft mechanics and service technicians: a median of $82,080, ranking 17 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, aircraft mechanics and service technicians sits at 133 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.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for aircraft mechanics and service technicians on its $82,080 median: $63,670 retained after tax becomes $62,802 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $90,620 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,160 |
| This salary | $82,080 |
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 | $63,670 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,573 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,706 |
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 | $77,953 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,882 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Colorado earn less than $82,080. The published range is $60,960 up to $130,160, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $63,670, from $82,080, 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 133 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 $62,802, the adjusted value of that $82,080 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 133 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for aircraft mechanics and service technicians in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $60,960 to $130,160. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $63,670 from $82,080. 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 133 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $62,802 — the adjusted value of that $82,080 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 133 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 $90,620 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 $60,960 at the bottom tenth to $130,160 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Colorado costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $62,802 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Colorado's own levy, $63,670 remains.
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 $90,620. 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 ($60,960) and the ninetieth ($130,160) 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 $62,802 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 $63,670 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.