File Clerks in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,198
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$8,292
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,677
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
$46,490
Kept after tax
$38,198
Worth in national money
$37,677
State rank
10
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for file clerks. The middle earner takes $46,490, which ranks 10 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 6.63% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Colorado, this one sits low: 404 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $46,490 the take-home is $38,198, which is worth about $37,677 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $47,780, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado ranks 10 of 49 states publishing a median for file clerks, at $46,490 — about 6.63% 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.
- File clerks occupies position 404 of 491 in Colorado's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for file clerks on its $46,490 median: $38,198 retained after tax becomes $37,677 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $47,780 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,550 |
| This salary | $46,490 |
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 | $38,198 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,535 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,007 |
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 | $44,826 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,637 |
| 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 file clerks in Colorado earn under $46,490 and half over. The published range runs $35,140 at the tenth percentile to $62,550 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 $38,198, worked from $46,490. 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 404 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,677 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 404.
- Figures are distribution medians for file clerks in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,140 to $62,550; 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 $38,198, on $46,490 for work ranking 404 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 404 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,677, worked from $46,490, 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 404 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,140 at the tenth percentile, $62,550 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $37,677 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Colorado adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,198 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,140 to $62,550) 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 $37,677 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 $38,198 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.