Food Service Managers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,213
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$17,657
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,365
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
$79,870
Kept after tax
$62,213
Worth in national money
$61,365
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food service managers is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $79,870, putting the state 8 of 51 — about 15.1% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Colorado, this sits in the middle: 144 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $79,870, take-home of $62,213 is worth roughly $61,365 in national money. The average comes to $89,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For food service managers, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $79,870, ranking 8 of 51 and running about 15.1% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Food service managers ranks 144 of 491 occupations in Colorado by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for food service managers, whose median is $79,870, the adjusted figure of $61,365 differs little from $62,213 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $89,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Food Service Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,060 |
| This salary | $79,870 |
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 | $62,213 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,019 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,544 |
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 | $75,882 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,658 |
| 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 $79,870. The published range is $66,140 up to $123,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $62,213 take-home in Colorado comes from $79,870. 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 144 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $61,365 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 144.
- Reported values are medians; for food service managers in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $66,140 to $123,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $62,213, from $79,870, 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 144 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $61,365, worked from $79,870, 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 144 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $89,350 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $66,140 at the tenth percentile, $123,060 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 $61,365 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Colorado's own levy, $62,213 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $89,350. 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 ($66,140 to $123,060) 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 $61,365 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 $62,213 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.