Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,296
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$9,274
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,733
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
$50,570
Kept after tax
$41,296
Worth in national money
$40,733
State rank
9
of 51 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 $50,570, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 8.94% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 346.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $50,570, take-home of $41,296 is worth roughly $40,733 in national money. The average comes to $53,190, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado's median for industrial truck and tractor operators is $50,570, about 8.94% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, industrial truck and tractor operators sits at 346 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for industrial truck and tractor operators, whose median is $50,570, the adjusted figure of $40,733 differs little from $41,296 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $53,190 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,630 |
| This salary | $50,570 |
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 | $41,296 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,813 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,324 |
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 | $48,682 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,020 |
| 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 industrial truck and tractor operators in Colorado earn under $50,570 and half over. The published range runs $40,560 at the tenth percentile to $65,630 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $41,296 take-home in Colorado comes from $50,570. 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 346 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,733 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 346.
- Figures are distribution medians for industrial truck and tractor operators in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,560 to $65,630; 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 $41,296, from $50,570, 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 346 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,733, worked from $50,570, 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 346 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 $53,190, 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 — $40,560 at the tenth percentile, $65,630 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 $40,733 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Colorado adds its own income tax on top — which is why $41,296 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $53,190. 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 ($40,560 to $65,630) 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 $40,733 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 $41,296 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.