Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,089
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$7,941
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,583
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
$45,030
Kept after tax
$37,089
Worth in national money
$36,583
State rank
13
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays this job a middle wage of $45,030, ranking 13 of 48 states and sitting about 6.3% above the national middle.
- Against 491 occupations Colorado publishes, this job lands at 426. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $45,030, tax leaves $37,089, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $36,583 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $45,970, since top earners drag the number up.
- Colorado's median for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters is $45,030, about 6.3% above the national figure and 13 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Colorado, this work ranks 426 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Colorado sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters — median $45,030 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $37,089 retained, $36,583 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $45,970 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,260 |
| This salary | $45,030 |
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 | $37,089 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,362 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,894 |
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 | $43,446 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,500 |
| 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 helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Colorado earn under $45,030 and half over. The published range runs $38,600 at the tenth percentile to $55,260 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 $37,089, worked from $45,030. 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 426 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,583, the adjusted value of that $45,030 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 426 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,600 to $55,260; 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 $37,089, on $45,030 for work ranking 426 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 426 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $36,583 — the adjusted value of that $45,030 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 426 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,600 at the tenth percentile, $55,260 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 $36,583 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, $37,089 remains.
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 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,600 to $55,260) 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 $36,583 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 $37,089 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.