Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,789
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$14,341
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,029
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
$70,130
Kept after tax
$55,789
Worth in national money
$55,029
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $70,130, which ranks 13 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 9.89% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 200.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $70,130 the take-home is $55,789, which is worth about $55,029 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $69,730, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Colorado ranks 13 of 51 states publishing a median for career/technical education teachers, postsecondary, at $70,130 — about 9.89% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, career/technical education teachers, postsecondary sits at 200 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 career/technical education teachers, postsecondary on its $70,130 median: $55,789 retained after tax becomes $55,029 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $69,730 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $70,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,850 |
| This salary | $70,130 |
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 | $55,789 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,166 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,829 |
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 | $66,751 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,292 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $70,130 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,840 and the ninetieth is $97,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Colorado's $55,789, worked from $70,130. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 200 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,029 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 200.
- The Colorado median of $70,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,840 to $97,850. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Colorado take-home of $55,789, on $70,130 for work ranking 200 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 200 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,029, worked from $70,130, 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 200 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,840 at the bottom tenth to $97,850 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 $55,029 — 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 $55,789.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,840) and the ninetieth ($97,850) 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 $55,029 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 $55,789 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.