Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,119
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$12,701
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,409
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
$64,820
Kept after tax
$52,119
Worth in national money
$51,409
State rank
12
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays earth drillers, except oil and gas a middle wage of $64,820, ranking 12 of 48 states and sitting about 7.69% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Colorado, this sits in the middle: 224 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 $64,820, take-home of $52,119 is worth roughly $51,409 in national money. The average comes to $68,280, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado's median for earth drillers, except oil and gas is $64,820, about 7.69% above the national figure and 12 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Earth drillers, except oil and gas ranks 224 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 earth drillers, except oil and gas, whose median is $64,820, the adjusted figure of $51,409 differs little from $52,119 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $68,280 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,180 |
| This salary | $64,820 |
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 | $52,119 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,263 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,432 |
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 | $62,152 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,360 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,820 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,190 and the ninetieth is $92,180 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $52,119, from $64,820, 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 224 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,409, the adjusted value of that $64,820 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 224 of 491 in the state.
- The Colorado median of $64,820 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,190 to $92,180. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $52,119 from $64,820. 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 224 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $51,409 — the adjusted value of that $64,820 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 224 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 $68,280 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,190 at the tenth percentile, $92,180 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 $51,409 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $52,119.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $68,280. 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 ($46,190 to $92,180) 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 $51,409 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 $52,119 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.