Emergency Medical Technicians in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,636
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$8,114
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,122
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
$45,750
Kept after tax
$37,636
Worth in national money
$37,122
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Colorado pays this job around $45,750 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 491 occupations Colorado publishes, this job lands at 416. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $45,750, take-home of $37,636 is worth roughly $37,122 in national money. The average comes to $46,830, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For emergency medical technicians the Colorado median is $45,750, ranking 18 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Colorado, this work ranks 416 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for emergency medical technicians, whose median is $45,750, the adjusted figure of $37,122 differs little from $37,636 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $46,830 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Emergency Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,320 |
| This salary | $45,750 |
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 | $37,636 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,940 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,950 |
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 | $44,126 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,567 |
| 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 $45,750. The published range is $38,370 up to $58,320, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $37,636, from $45,750, 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 416 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,122, the adjusted value of that $45,750 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 416 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for emergency medical technicians in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,370 to $58,320. 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 $37,636 from $45,750. 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 416 of 491 locally.
- This $37,122 adjusted figure, worked from $45,750, 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 416 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 416 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,370 and the top tenth $58,320, so most people doing this work in Colorado sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Colorado costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $37,122 rather than its face figure.
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 $37,636.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,370 to $58,320) 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 $37,122 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 $37,636 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.