Computer Network Architects in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$101,012
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$38,218
27.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$99,635
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
$139,230
Kept after tax
$101,012
Worth in national money
$99,635
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for computer network architects is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $139,230, putting the state 11 of 51 — about 3.86% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Colorado. It ranks 27 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $139,230, take-home of $101,012 is worth roughly $99,635 in national money. The average comes to $146,160, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For computer network architects, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $139,230, ranking 11 of 51 and running about 3.86% 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.
- Within Colorado, computer network architects ranks 27 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for computer network architects, whose median is $139,230, the adjusted figure of $99,635 differs little from $101,012 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $146,160 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Computer Network Architects
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $94,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $139,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $206,600 |
| This salary | $139,230 |
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 | $101,012 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $106,430 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,889 |
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 | $131,304 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,059 |
| 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 $139,230. The published range is $94,920 up to $206,600, 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 $101,012, worked from $139,230. 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 27 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $99,635 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 27.
- Reported values are medians; for computer network architects in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $94,920 to $206,600. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Colorado take-home of $101,012, on $139,230 for work ranking 27 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 27 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $99,635, worked from $139,230, 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 27 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 $146,160 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $94,920, the highest tenth $206,600, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $99,635 rather than its face figure.
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 $101,012 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 $146,160. 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 ($94,920) and the ninetieth ($206,600) 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 $99,635 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 $101,012 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.