Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,173
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$25,897
24.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,107
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
$104,070
Kept after tax
$78,173
Worth in national money
$77,107
State rank
31
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Colorado is 31 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $104,070. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Colorado reports, this job comes in at 79 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $104,070, take-home of $78,173 is worth roughly $77,107 in national money. The average comes to $113,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado ranks 31 of 48 for engineering teachers, postsecondary at $104,070. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Engineering teachers, postsecondary ranks 79 of 491 occupations by median in Colorado, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for engineering teachers, postsecondary, whose median is $104,070, the adjusted figure of $77,107 differs little from $78,173 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $113,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $171,520 |
| This salary | $104,070 |
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 | $78,173 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,043 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,321 |
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 | $98,568 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,113 |
| 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 engineering teachers, postsecondary in Colorado earn under $104,070 and half over. The published range runs $54,330 at the tenth percentile to $171,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $78,173 take-home in Colorado comes from $104,070. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 79 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $77,107, the adjusted value of that $104,070 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 79 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for engineering teachers, postsecondary in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $54,330 to $171,520; 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.
- Retained pay of $78,173, from $104,070, assumes a single Colorado filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 79 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $77,107 — the adjusted value of that $104,070 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 79 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 $113,260, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $54,330 at the bottom tenth to $171,520 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $77,107 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 $78,173.
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 $113,260. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($54,330) and the ninetieth ($171,520) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $77,107 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 $78,173 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.