Medical Transcriptionists in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,608
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$7,472
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,122
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
$43,080
Kept after tax
$35,608
Worth in national money
$35,122
State rank
18
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado sits in the middle of the pack for medical transcriptionists. The median is $43,080, ranking 18 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Colorado, this one sits low: 441 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $43,080, tax leaves $35,608, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $35,122 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $45,670, since top earners drag the number up.
- Colorado occupies the middle band for medical transcriptionists: a median of $43,080, ranking 18 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.
- Medical transcriptionists occupies position 441 of 491 in Colorado's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Colorado sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for medical transcriptionists — median $43,080 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $35,608 retained, $35,122 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $45,670 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Transcriptionists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,290 |
| This salary | $43,080 |
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 | $35,608 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,795 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,742 |
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 | $41,603 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,316 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,080 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,010 and the ninetieth is $62,290 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $35,608 take-home in Colorado comes from $43,080. 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 441 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,122 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 441.
- The Colorado median of $43,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,010 to $62,290. 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 $35,608, from $43,080, 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 441 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,122, worked from $43,080, 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 441 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 $45,670 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,010 at the bottom tenth to $62,290 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $35,122 — 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 $35,608 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $45,670. 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 ($32,010 to $62,290) 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 $35,122 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 $35,608 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.