Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,160
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$9,230
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,599
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
$50,390
Kept after tax
$41,160
Worth in national money
$40,599
State rank
1
of 50 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 $50,390, ranking 1 of 50 states and sitting about 31.57% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Colorado, this sits in the middle: 351 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $50,390, take-home of $41,160 is worth roughly $40,599 in national money. The average comes to $51,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado's median for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers is $50,390, about 31.57% above the national figure and 1 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers ranks 351 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.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers, whose median is $50,390, the adjusted figure of $40,599 differs little from $41,160 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $51,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,280 |
| This salary | $50,390 |
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 | $41,160 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,310 |
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 | $48,512 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,003 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Colorado earn less than $50,390. The published range is $47,520 up to $57,280, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $41,160, from $50,390, 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 351 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,599, the adjusted value of that $50,390 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 351 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,520 to $57,280. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,160 from $50,390. 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 351 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $40,599 — the adjusted value of that $50,390 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 351 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,520 and the top tenth $57,280, 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 $40,599 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $41,160 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,520 to $57,280) 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 $40,599 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 $41,160 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.