Office Machine Operators, Except Computer in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,479
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$8,381
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,954
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
$46,860
Kept after tax
$38,479
Worth in national money
$37,954
State rank
5
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $46,860, putting the state 5 of 47 — about 14.4% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Colorado this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 400. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $46,860 the take-home is $38,479, which is worth about $37,954 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $49,070, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For office machine operators, except computer, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,860, ranking 5 of 47 and running about 14.4% 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.
- Against every occupation Colorado reports, office machine operators, except computer ranks 400 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for office machine operators, except computer on its $46,860 median: $38,479 retained after tax becomes $37,954 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $49,070 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,530 |
| This salary | $46,860 |
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 | $38,479 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,832 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,036 |
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 | $45,176 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,672 |
| 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 $46,860. The published range is $36,750 up to $64,530, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $38,479 take-home in Colorado comes from $46,860. 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 400 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,954 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 400.
- Reported values are medians; for office machine operators, except computer in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,750 to $64,530. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $38,479, from $46,860, 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 400 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,954, worked from $46,860, 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 400 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $49,070, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,750 at the tenth percentile, $64,530 at the ninetieth.
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 $37,954 rather than its face figure.
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 $38,479 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $49,070. 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 ($36,750 to $64,530) 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 $37,954 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 $38,479 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.