Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,431
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$11,849
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,757
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
$61,280
Kept after tax
$49,431
Worth in national money
$48,757
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays this job a middle wage of $61,280, ranking 3 of 51 states and sitting about 21.06% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 261 among 491 occupations Colorado publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $61,280, take-home of $49,431 is worth roughly $48,757 in national money. The average comes to $63,980, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado's median for automotive service technicians and mechanics is $61,280, about 21.06% above the national figure and 3 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.
- Position 261 of 491 in Colorado places automotive service technicians and mechanics in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for automotive service technicians and mechanics, whose median is $61,280, the adjusted figure of $48,757 differs little from $49,431 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $63,980 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,830 |
| This salary | $61,280 |
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 | $49,431 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,418 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,157 |
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 | $58,806 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,027 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of automotive service technicians and mechanics in Colorado earn under $61,280 and half over. The published range runs $39,550 at the tenth percentile to $93,830 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $49,431, from $61,280, 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 261 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 $48,757, the adjusted value of that $61,280 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 261 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for automotive service technicians and mechanics in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,550 to $93,830; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,431 from $61,280. 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 261 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $48,757 — the adjusted value of that $61,280 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 261 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 $63,980 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,550 and the top tenth $93,830 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $48,757 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, $49,431 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $63,980. 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 ($39,550) and the ninetieth ($93,830) 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 $48,757 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 $49,431 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.