Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,638
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$12,232
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,948
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
$62,870
Kept after tax
$50,638
Worth in national money
$49,948
State rank
24
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $62,870, ranking 24 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 247.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $62,870 the take-home is $50,638, which is worth about $49,948 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $68,150, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado occupies the middle band for kindergarten teachers, except special education: a median of $62,870, ranking 24 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, kindergarten teachers, except special education sits at 247 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 kindergarten teachers, except special education on its $62,870 median: $50,638 retained after tax becomes $49,948 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $68,150 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,710 |
| This salary | $62,870 |
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 | $50,638 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,696 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,280 |
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 | $60,309 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,176 |
| 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 kindergarten teachers, except special education in Colorado earn under $62,870 and half over. The published range runs $47,300 at the tenth percentile to $97,710 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $50,638 take-home in Colorado comes from $62,870. 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 247 of 491.
- Two cautions on $49,948, the adjusted value of that $62,870 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 247 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for kindergarten teachers, except special education in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,300 to $97,710; 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 $50,638, from $62,870, 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 247 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 50 for it.
- This $49,948 adjusted figure, worked from $62,870, 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 247 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 247 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 $68,150 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $47,300 at the bottom tenth to $97,710 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Colorado costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $49,948 rather than its face figure.
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 $50,638.
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 50 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 $68,150. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,300) and the ninetieth ($97,710) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $49,948 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 $50,638 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.