Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,296
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$11,174
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,652
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
$58,470
Kept after tax
$47,296
Worth in national money
$46,652
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Colorado is 17 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $58,470. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 291.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $58,470, take-home of $47,296 is worth roughly $46,652 in national money. The average comes to $60,490, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado ranks 17 of 51 for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators at $58,470. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators sits at 291 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.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, whose median is $58,470, the adjusted figure of $46,652 differs little from $47,296 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $60,490 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,360 |
| This salary | $58,470 |
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 | $47,296 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,161 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,938 |
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 | $56,150 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,763 |
| 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 $58,470. The published range is $45,530 up to $76,360, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $47,296 take-home in Colorado comes from $58,470. 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 291 of 491.
- Two cautions on $46,652, the adjusted value of that $58,470 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 291 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,530 to $76,360. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $47,296, from $58,470, 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 291 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 51 for it.
- This $46,652 adjusted figure, worked from $58,470, 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 291 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 291 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 $60,490, 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 — $45,530 at the tenth percentile, $76,360 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Colorado run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $46,652 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $47,296.
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 $60,490. 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 ($45,530 to $76,360) 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 $46,652 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 $47,296 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.