Helpers--Carpenters in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,547
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$9,353
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,981
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
$50,900
Kept after tax
$41,547
Worth in national money
$40,981
State rank
2
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays helpers--carpenters a middle wage of $50,900, ranking 2 of 47 states and sitting about 16.26% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Helpers--carpenters ranks 341 among 491 occupations Colorado publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $50,900, take-home of $41,547 is worth roughly $40,981 in national money. The average lands at $48,970, below the middle of the range.
- Colorado's median for helpers--carpenters is $50,900, about 16.26% above the national figure and 2 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 341 of 491 in Colorado places helpers--carpenters 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.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for helpers--carpenters, whose median is $50,900, the adjusted figure of $40,981 differs little from $41,547 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $48,970 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Helpers--Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,870 |
| This salary | $50,900 |
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 | $41,547 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,078 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,350 |
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 | $48,994 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,051 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,900 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,430 and the ninetieth is $54,870 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Colorado's $41,547, worked from $50,900. 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 341 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,981, the adjusted value of that $50,900 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 341 of 491 in the state.
- The Colorado median of $50,900 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,430 to $54,870. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Colorado take-home of $41,547, on $50,900 for work ranking 341 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 341 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $40,981 — the adjusted value of that $50,900 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 341 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 $48,970, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $41,430 at the bottom tenth to $54,870 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $40,981 of national purchasing power.
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 $41,547.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $48,970. 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 ($41,430 to $54,870) 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 $40,981 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 $41,547 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.