Painters, Construction and Maintenance in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,119
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$9,851
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,531
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
$52,970
Kept after tax
$43,119
Worth in national money
$42,531
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Colorado is 19 of 51 states for painters, construction and maintenance, with a middle wage of $52,970. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Painters, construction and maintenance ranks 322 among 491 occupations Colorado publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $52,970, take-home of $43,119 is worth roughly $42,531 in national money. The average comes to $56,370, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado ranks 19 of 51 for painters, construction and maintenance at $52,970. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 322 of 491 in Colorado places painters, construction and maintenance in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for painters, construction and maintenance, whose median is $52,970, the adjusted figure of $42,531 differs little from $43,119 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $56,370 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Painters, Construction and Maintenance
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,710 |
| This salary | $52,970 |
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 | $43,119 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,741 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,511 |
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 | $50,951 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,246 |
| 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 painters, construction and maintenance in Colorado earn under $52,970 and half over. The published range runs $40,570 at the tenth percentile to $77,710 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $43,119 take-home in Colorado comes from $52,970. 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 322 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,531 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 322.
- Figures are distribution medians for painters, construction and maintenance in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,570 to $77,710; 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 $43,119, from $52,970, 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 322 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,531, worked from $52,970, 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 322 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 $56,370 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $40,570 at the tenth percentile, $77,710 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 $42,531 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 $43,119.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $56,370. 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 ($40,570 to $77,710) 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 $42,531 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 $43,119 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.