Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,977
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$16,503
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,159
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
$76,480
Kept after tax
$59,977
Worth in national money
$59,159
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $76,480, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 12.03% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 166.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $76,480 the take-home is $59,977, which is worth about $59,159 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $75,070, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For librarians and media collections specialists, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $76,480, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 12.03% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, librarians and media collections specialists sits at 166 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 librarians and media collections specialists on its $76,480 median: $59,977 retained after tax becomes $59,159 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $75,070 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,280 |
| This salary | $76,480 |
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 | $59,977 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,634 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,295 |
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 | $72,704 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,314 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,480 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,200 and the ninetieth is $101,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $59,977 take-home in Colorado comes from $76,480. 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 166 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,159 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 166.
- The Colorado median of $76,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,200 to $101,280. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $59,977, from $76,480, 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 166 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,159, worked from $76,480, 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 166 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $51,200 at the tenth percentile, $101,280 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 $59,159 — 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 $59,977.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,200 to $101,280) 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 $59,159 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 $59,977 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.