Operations Research Analysts in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$95,033
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$34,847
26.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$93,737
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
$129,880
Kept after tax
$95,033
Worth in national money
$93,737
State rank
1
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays operations research analysts a middle wage of $129,880, ranking 1 of 47 states and sitting about 46.03% above the national middle.
- Within Colorado this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, operations research analysts ranks 40 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $129,880 the take-home is $95,033, which is worth about $93,737 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $130,610, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado's median for operations research analysts is $129,880, about 46.03% above the national figure and 1 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Colorado publishes a median for, operations research analysts sits 40 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for operations research analysts on its $129,880 median: $95,033 retained after tax becomes $93,737 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $130,610 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Operations Research Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $79,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $129,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $182,530 |
| This salary | $129,880 |
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 | $95,033 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $100,039 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,210 |
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 | $122,555 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,952 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $129,880 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $79,570 and the ninetieth is $182,530 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Colorado's $95,033, worked from $129,880. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 40 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $93,737, the adjusted value of that $129,880 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 40 of 491 in the state.
- The Colorado median of $129,880 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $79,570 to $182,530. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Colorado take-home of $95,033, on $129,880 for work ranking 40 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 40 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $93,737 — the adjusted value of that $129,880 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 40 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $79,570 and the top tenth $182,530 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $93,737 of national purchasing power.
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 $95,033.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($79,570) and the ninetieth ($182,530) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $93,737 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 $95,033 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.