Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,113
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$25,867
24.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,048
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
$103,980
Kept after tax
$78,113
Worth in national money
$77,048
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Colorado is 20 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $103,980. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Colorado. It ranks 80 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $103,980, take-home of $78,113 is worth roughly $77,048 in national money. The average lands at $97,770, below the middle of the range.
- Colorado ranks 20 of 51 for electrical power-line installers and repairers at $103,980. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Colorado, electrical power-line installers and repairers ranks 80 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.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for electrical power-line installers and repairers, whose median is $103,980, the adjusted figure of $77,048 differs little from $78,113 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $97,770 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,360 |
| This salary | $103,980 |
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 | $78,113 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,980 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,315 |
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 | $98,484 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,104 |
| 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 electrical power-line installers and repairers in Colorado earn under $103,980 and half over. The published range runs $59,170 at the tenth percentile to $131,360 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 $78,113, worked from $103,980. 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 80 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $77,048, the adjusted value of that $103,980 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 80 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for electrical power-line installers and repairers in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,170 to $131,360; 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 $78,113, on $103,980 for work ranking 80 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 80 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $77,048 — the adjusted value of that $103,980 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 80 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 $97,770, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $59,170 at the bottom tenth to $131,360 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $77,048 — 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 $78,113.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $97,770. 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 ($59,170 to $131,360) 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 $77,048 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 $78,113 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.