Correctional Officers and Jailers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,084
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$12,056
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,401
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
$62,140
Kept after tax
$50,084
Worth in national money
$49,401
State rank
20
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Colorado is 20 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $62,140. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Colorado, this sits in the middle: 256 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $62,140, take-home of $50,084 is worth roughly $49,401 in national money. The average comes to $66,360, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado ranks 20 of 49 for correctional officers and jailers at $62,140. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Correctional officers and jailers ranks 256 of 491 occupations in Colorado by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for correctional officers and jailers, whose median is $62,140, the adjusted figure of $49,401 differs little from $50,084 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $66,360 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Correctional Officers and Jailers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,690 |
| This salary | $62,140 |
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 | $50,084 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,109 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,223 |
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 | $59,619 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,108 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $62,140 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $52,370 and the ninetieth is $87,690 — 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 $50,084, worked from $62,140. 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 256 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $49,401 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 256.
- The Colorado median of $62,140 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $52,370 to $87,690. 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 $50,084, on $62,140 for work ranking 256 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 256 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,401, worked from $62,140, 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 256 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 $66,360, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $52,370 at the tenth percentile, $87,690 at the ninetieth.
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 $49,401 of national purchasing power.
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 $50,084 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $66,360. 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 ($52,370 to $87,690) 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 $49,401 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 $50,084 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.