Highway Maintenance Workers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,648
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$9,702
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,067
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
$52,350
Kept after tax
$42,648
Worth in national money
$42,067
State rank
18
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado sits in the middle of the pack for highway maintenance workers. The median is $52,350, ranking 18 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Highway maintenance workers ranks 327 among 491 occupations Colorado publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $52,350 the take-home is $42,648, which is worth about $42,067 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $55,710, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado occupies the middle band for highway maintenance workers: a median of $52,350, ranking 18 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 327 of 491 in Colorado places highway maintenance workers 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 highway maintenance workers on its $52,350 median: $42,648 retained after tax becomes $42,067 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $55,710 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,780 |
| This salary | $52,350 |
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 | $42,648 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,243 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,463 |
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 | $50,365 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,188 |
| 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 highway maintenance workers in Colorado earn under $52,350 and half over. The published range runs $44,940 at the tenth percentile to $66,780 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $42,648, from $52,350, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 327 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $42,067, the adjusted value of that $52,350 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Colorado. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 327 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for highway maintenance workers in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,940 to $66,780; 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.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $42,648 from $52,350. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 327 of 491 locally.
- This $42,067 adjusted figure, worked from $52,350, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 327 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 327 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 $55,710, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $44,940 at the tenth percentile, $66,780 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Colorado run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $42,067 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $42,648 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $55,710. 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 ($44,940 to $66,780) 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 $42,067 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 $42,648 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.