Database Architects in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$110,816
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$43,744
28.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$109,305
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
$154,560
Kept after tax
$110,816
Worth in national money
$109,305
State rank
5
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays database architects a middle wage of $154,560, ranking 5 of 46 states and sitting about 10.8% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Colorado. It ranks 20 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $154,560 the take-home is $110,816, which is worth about $109,305 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $146,780, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Colorado's median for database architects is $154,560, about 10.8% above the national figure and 5 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Colorado, database architects ranks 20 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.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for database architects on its $154,560 median: $110,816 retained after tax becomes $109,305 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $146,780 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Database Architects
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $88,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $154,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $195,510 |
| This salary | $154,560 |
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 | $110,816 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $116,908 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,001 |
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 | $145,647 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,641 |
| 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 $154,560. The published range is $88,000 up to $195,510, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $110,816, from $154,560, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 20 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $109,305, the adjusted value of that $154,560 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Colorado. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 20 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for database architects in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $88,000 to $195,510. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $110,816 from $154,560. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 20 of 491 locally.
- This $109,305 adjusted figure, worked from $154,560, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 20 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 20 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 $146,780 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $88,000 and the top tenth $195,510, 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 $109,305 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 $110,816.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $146,780. 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 ($88,000 to $195,510) 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 $109,305 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 $110,816 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.