Bartenders in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,879
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$6,291
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,444
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
$38,170
Kept after tax
$31,879
Worth in national money
$31,444
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bartenders is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $38,170, putting the state 12 of 51 — about 11.15% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Colorado, this one sits low: 467 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $38,170 the take-home is $31,879, which is worth about $31,444 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $51,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For bartenders, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $38,170, ranking 12 of 51 and running about 11.15% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Bartenders occupies position 467 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 bartenders on its $38,170 median: $31,879 retained after tax becomes $31,444 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $51,250 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bartenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $94,880 |
| This salary | $38,170 |
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 | $31,879 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,850 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,361 |
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 | $36,961 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,855 |
| 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 $38,170. The published range is $30,800 up to $94,880, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $31,879, from $38,170, 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 467 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,444 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 467.
- Reported values are medians; for bartenders in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,800 to $94,880. 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 $31,879 from $38,170. 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 467 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,444, worked from $38,170, 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 467 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $51,250, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $30,800 and the top tenth $94,880 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $31,444 rather than its face figure.
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 $31,879.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $51,250. 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 ($30,800) and the ninetieth ($94,880) 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 $31,444 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 $31,879 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.