Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,167
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$7,333
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,688
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
$42,500
Kept after tax
$35,167
Worth in national money
$34,688
State rank
17
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 $42,500, which ranks 17 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 13.48% above the national middle.
- Within Colorado this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 443. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $42,500 the take-home is $35,167, which is worth about $34,688 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $43,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado ranks 17 of 51 states publishing a median for cooks, institution and cafeteria, at $42,500 — about 13.48% 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, institution and cafeteria ranks 443 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.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for cooks, institution and cafeteria on its $42,500 median: $35,167 retained after tax becomes $34,688 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $43,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,990 |
| This salary | $42,500 |
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 | $35,167 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,329 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,697 |
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 | $41,054 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,262 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of cooks, institution and cafeteria in Colorado earn under $42,500 and half over. The published range runs $36,290 at the tenth percentile to $50,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Colorado's $35,167, worked from $42,500. 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 443 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,688, the adjusted value of that $42,500 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 443 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, institution and cafeteria in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,290 to $50,990; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Colorado take-home of $35,167, on $42,500 for work ranking 443 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 443 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $34,688 — the adjusted value of that $42,500 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 443 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,290 and the top tenth $50,990, so most people doing this work in Colorado sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $34,688 of national purchasing power.
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 $35,167.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,290 to $50,990) 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 $34,688 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 $35,167 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.