Cooks, Fast Food in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,914
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$5,986
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,493
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
$36,900
Kept after tax
$30,914
Worth in national money
$30,493
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for cooks, fast food. The middle earner takes $36,900, which ranks 9 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 19.46% above the national middle.
- Within Colorado this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, fast food ranks 481. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $36,900, take-home of $30,914 is worth roughly $30,493 in national money. The average comes to $38,400, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado ranks 9 of 51 states publishing a median for cooks, fast food, at $36,900 — about 19.46% 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.
- Against every occupation Colorado reports, cooks, fast food ranks 481 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for cooks, fast food, whose median is $36,900, the adjusted figure of $30,493 differs little from $30,914 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $38,400 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,610 |
| This salary | $36,900 |
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 | $30,914 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,829 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,262 |
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 | $35,761 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,736 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,900 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,970 and the ninetieth is $46,610 — 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 $30,914, worked from $36,900. 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 481 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,493 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 481.
- The Colorado median of $36,900 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,970 to $46,610. 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 $30,914, on $36,900 for work ranking 481 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 481 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,493, worked from $36,900, 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 481 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $38,400, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,970 and the top tenth $46,610, so most people doing this work in Colorado sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $30,493 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $30,914 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 $38,400. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,970 to $46,610) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Colorado rather than a national figure.
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 $30,493 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 $30,914 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.