Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,729
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$16,891
21.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,901
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
$77,620
Kept after tax
$60,729
Worth in national money
$59,901
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $77,620, ranking 23 of 51 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 160.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $77,620 the take-home is $60,729, which is worth about $59,901 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $84,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado occupies the middle band for claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators: a median of $77,620, ranking 23 of 51. 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, claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators sits at 160 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 claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators on its $77,620 median: $60,729 retained after tax becomes $59,901 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $84,250 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,360 |
| This salary | $77,620 |
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 | $60,729 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,436 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,379 |
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 | $73,772 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,430 |
| 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 $77,620. The published range is $59,550 up to $123,360, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Colorado's $60,729, worked from $77,620. 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 160 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,901 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 160.
- Reported values are medians; for claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $59,550 to $123,360. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Colorado take-home of $60,729, on $77,620 for work ranking 160 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 160 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,901, worked from $77,620, 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 160 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 $84,250, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $59,550 at the bottom tenth to $123,360 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 $59,901 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Colorado adds its own income tax on top — which is why $60,729 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $84,250. 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 ($59,550) and the ninetieth ($123,360) 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 $59,901 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 $60,729 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.