Project Management Specialists in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$82,116
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$27,934
25.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,997
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
$110,050
Kept after tax
$82,116
Worth in national money
$80,997
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays project management specialists a middle wage of $110,050, ranking 8 of 51 states and sitting about 7.55% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Colorado reports, project management specialists comes in at 64 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $110,050, take-home of $82,116 is worth roughly $80,997 in national money. The average comes to $118,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado's median for project management specialists is $110,050, about 7.55% above the national figure and 8 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Project management specialists ranks 64 of 491 occupations by median in Colorado, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for project management specialists, whose median is $110,050, the adjusted figure of $80,997 differs little from $82,116 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $118,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Project Management Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $110,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $171,630 |
| This salary | $110,050 |
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 | $82,116 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,250 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,761 |
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 | $104,174 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,720 |
| 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 project management specialists in Colorado earn under $110,050 and half over. The published range runs $68,990 at the tenth percentile to $171,630 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Colorado's $82,116, worked from $110,050. 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 64 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $80,997, the adjusted value of that $110,050 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 64 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for project management specialists in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $68,990 to $171,630; 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.
- The Colorado take-home of $82,116, on $110,050 for work ranking 64 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 64 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $80,997 — the adjusted value of that $110,050 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 64 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $118,680, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $68,990 at the bottom tenth to $171,630 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $80,997 rather than its face figure.
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 $82,116 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.
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 $118,680. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($68,990) and the ninetieth ($171,630) 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 $80,997 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 $82,116 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.