Driver/Sales Workers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,866
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$7,554
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,377
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
$43,420
Kept after tax
$35,866
Worth in national money
$35,377
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays driver/sales workers a middle wage of $43,420, ranking 8 of 51 states and sitting about 11.99% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Colorado, this one sits low: 439 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $43,420 the take-home is $35,866, which is worth about $35,377 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $44,790, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado's median for driver/sales workers is $43,420, about 11.99% above the national figure and 8 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Driver/sales workers occupies position 439 of 491 in Colorado's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for driver/sales workers on its $43,420 median: $35,866 retained after tax becomes $35,377 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $44,790 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Driver/Sales Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,960 |
| This salary | $43,420 |
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 | $35,866 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,068 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,769 |
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 | $41,924 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,348 |
| 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 $43,420. The published range is $30,800 up to $57,960, 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 $35,866, worked from $43,420. 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 439 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,377 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 439.
- Reported values are medians; for driver/sales workers in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,800 to $57,960. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Colorado take-home of $35,866, on $43,420 for work ranking 439 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 439 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,377, worked from $43,420, 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 439 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $44,790, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,800 at the tenth percentile, $57,960 at the ninetieth.
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 $35,377 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $35,866 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 $44,790. 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 ($30,800 to $57,960) 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 $35,377 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 $35,866 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.