Animal Caretakers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,316
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$6,114
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,890
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
$37,430
Kept after tax
$31,316
Worth in national money
$30,890
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays animal caretakers a middle wage of $37,430, ranking 8 of 51 states and sitting about 5.85% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Colorado, this one sits low: 479 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $37,430 the take-home is $31,316, which is worth about $30,890 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $41,010, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado's median for animal caretakers is $37,430, about 5.85% above the national figure and 8 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Animal caretakers occupies position 479 of 491 in Colorado's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for animal caretakers on its $37,430 median: $31,316 retained after tax becomes $30,890 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $41,010 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,300 |
| This salary | $37,430 |
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 | $31,316 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,255 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,303 |
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 | $36,262 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,785 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,430 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,070 and the ninetieth is $55,300 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,316 take-home in Colorado comes from $37,430. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 479 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,890 uses one figure for the whole of Colorado. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 479.
- The Colorado median of $37,430 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,070 to $55,300. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $31,316, from $37,430, assumes a single Colorado filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 479 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,890, worked from $37,430, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Colorado address, on work sitting at 479 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $41,010, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,070 at the tenth percentile, $55,300 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $30,890 of national purchasing power.
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, $31,316 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $41,010. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,070 to $55,300) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Colorado rather than a national figure.
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 $30,890 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 $31,316 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.