Graphic Designers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,266
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$13,064
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,540
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
$66,330
Kept after tax
$53,266
Worth in national money
$52,540
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for graphic designers is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $66,330, putting the state 11 of 51 — about 5.35% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Graphic designers ranks 213 among 491 occupations Colorado publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $66,330 the take-home is $53,266, which is worth about $52,540 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $74,460, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For graphic designers, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $66,330, ranking 11 of 51 and running about 5.35% 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.
- Position 213 of 491 in Colorado places graphic designers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for graphic designers on its $66,330 median: $53,266 retained after tax becomes $52,540 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $74,460 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,560 |
| This salary | $66,330 |
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 | $53,266 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,476 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,549 |
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 | $63,579 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,502 |
| 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 graphic designers in Colorado earn under $66,330 and half over. The published range runs $47,030 at the tenth percentile to $118,560 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $53,266 take-home in Colorado comes from $66,330. 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 213 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,540 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 213.
- Figures are distribution medians for graphic designers in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,030 to $118,560; 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 $53,266, from $66,330, 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 213 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,540, worked from $66,330, 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 213 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 $74,460, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $47,030 and the top tenth $118,560 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $52,540 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, $53,266 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 $74,460. 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 ($47,030) and the ninetieth ($118,560) 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 $52,540 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 $53,266 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.