Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,205
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$11,145
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,562
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
$58,350
Kept after tax
$47,205
Worth in national money
$46,562
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $58,350, which ranks 6 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 20.14% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 292.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $58,350 the take-home is $47,205, which is worth about $46,562 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $60,840, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado ranks 6 of 51 states publishing a median for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers, at $58,350 — about 20.14% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers sits at 292 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.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers on its $58,350 median: $47,205 retained after tax becomes $46,562 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $60,840 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,420 |
| This salary | $58,350 |
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 | $47,205 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,064 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,929 |
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 | $56,036 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,752 |
| 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 inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers in Colorado earn under $58,350 and half over. The published range runs $43,690 at the tenth percentile to $82,420 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $47,205, from $58,350, 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 292 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $46,562 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 292.
- Figures are distribution medians for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $43,690 to $82,420; 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 $47,205 from $58,350. 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 292 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $46,562, worked from $58,350, 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 292 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $60,840 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $43,690 and the top tenth $82,420, so most people doing this work in Colorado sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $46,562 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $47,205.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $60,840. 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 ($43,690 to $82,420) 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 $46,562 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 $47,205 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.