Postal Service Clerks in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,861
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$11,669
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,195
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
$60,530
Kept after tax
$48,861
Worth in national money
$48,195
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is among the lower-paying states for postal service clerks. The middle earner takes $60,530, ranking 36 of 51 states — about 2.58% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Postal service clerks ranks 273 among 491 occupations Colorado publishes pay for.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $60,530, tax leaves $48,861, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $48,195 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $60,930, since top earners drag the number up.
- Colorado ranks 36 of 51 for postal service clerks, with a median of $60,530 — about 2.58% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 273 of 491 in Colorado places postal service clerks 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.
- Because Colorado sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for postal service clerks — median $60,530 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $48,861 retained, $48,195 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $60,930 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,030 |
| This salary | $60,530 |
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 | $48,861 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,816 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,098 |
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 | $58,097 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,956 |
| 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 postal service clerks in Colorado earn under $60,530 and half over. The published range runs $42,600 at the tenth percentile to $75,030 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $48,861, from $60,530, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 273 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,195 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 273.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service clerks in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,600 to $75,030; 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.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,861 from $60,530. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 273 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,195, worked from $60,530, 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 273 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,600 at the tenth percentile, $75,030 at the ninetieth.
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 $48,195 of national purchasing power.
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 $48,861 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 to $75,030) 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 $48,195 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 $48,861 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.