Emergency Management Directors in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$94,892
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$34,768
26.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$93,598
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
$129,660
Kept after tax
$94,892
Worth in national money
$93,598
State rank
5
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $129,660, which ranks 5 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 38.93% above the national middle.
- Within Colorado this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 41 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $129,660 the take-home is $94,892, which is worth about $93,598 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $125,080, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Colorado ranks 5 of 47 states publishing a median for emergency management directors, at $129,660 — about 38.93% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Colorado publishes a median for, emergency management directors sits 41 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for emergency management directors on its $129,660 median: $94,892 retained after tax becomes $93,598 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $125,080 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Emergency Management Directors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $88,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $129,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,810 |
| This salary | $129,660 |
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 | $94,892 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $99,889 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,194 |
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 | $122,350 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,923 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $129,660 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $88,200 and the ninetieth is $166,810 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $94,892, from $129,660, 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 41 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $93,598 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 41.
- The Colorado median of $129,660 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $88,200 to $166,810. 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 $94,892 from $129,660. 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 41 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $93,598, worked from $129,660, 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 41 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 $125,080, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $88,200 and the top tenth $166,810, so most people doing this work in Colorado sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $93,598 — 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 $94,892.
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 47 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 $125,080. 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 ($88,200 to $166,810) 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 $93,598 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 $94,892 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.