Machinists in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,610
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$11,590
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,948
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
$60,200
Kept after tax
$48,610
Worth in national money
$47,948
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado sits in the middle of the pack for machinists. The median is $60,200, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Colorado, this sits in the middle: 275 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $60,200 the take-home is $48,610, which is worth about $47,948 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $62,650, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado occupies the middle band for machinists: a median of $60,200, ranking 21 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Machinists ranks 275 of 491 occupations in Colorado by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for machinists on its $60,200 median: $48,610 retained after tax becomes $47,948 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $62,650 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Machinists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,510 |
| This salary | $60,200 |
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 | $48,610 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,551 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,073 |
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 | $57,785 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,925 |
| 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 machinists in Colorado earn under $60,200 and half over. The published range runs $44,650 at the tenth percentile to $84,510 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,610 take-home in Colorado comes from $60,200. 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 275 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,948 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 275.
- Figures are distribution medians for machinists in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,650 to $84,510; 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 $48,610, from $60,200, 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 275 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,948, worked from $60,200, 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 275 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 $62,650, 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 — $44,650 at the tenth percentile, $84,510 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 $47,948 — 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, $48,610 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $62,650. 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 ($44,650 to $84,510) 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 $47,948 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 $48,610 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.