Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,853
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$9,767
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,269
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
$52,620
Kept after tax
$42,853
Worth in national money
$42,269
State rank
12
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $52,620, which ranks 12 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 9.9% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 324.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $52,620 the take-home is $42,853, which is worth about $42,269 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $56,360, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado ranks 12 of 49 states publishing a median for outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics, at $52,620 — about 9.9% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics sits at 324 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics on its $52,620 median: $42,853 retained after tax becomes $42,269 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $56,360 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,400 |
| This salary | $52,620 |
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 | $42,853 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,460 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,484 |
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 | $50,620 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,213 |
| 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 outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics in Colorado earn under $52,620 and half over. The published range runs $39,990 at the tenth percentile to $76,400 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $42,853 take-home in Colorado comes from $52,620. 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 324 of 491.
- Two cautions on $42,269, the adjusted value of that $52,620 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Colorado. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 324 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,990 to $76,400; 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 $42,853, from $52,620, 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 324 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 49 for it.
- This $42,269 adjusted figure, worked from $52,620, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 324 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 324 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 $56,360 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 $39,990 at the bottom tenth to $76,400 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,269 rather than its face figure.
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 $42,853.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $56,360. 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 ($39,990 to $76,400) 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 $42,269 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 $42,853 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.