Psychiatrists in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$182,917
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$83,453
31.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$180,424
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
$266,370
Kept after tax
$182,917
Worth in national money
$180,424
State rank
25
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado sits in the middle of the pack for psychiatrists. The median is $266,370, ranking 25 of 46 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Colorado reports, psychiatrists comes in at 2 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $266,370 the take-home is $182,917, which is worth about $180,424 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $258,210, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Colorado occupies the middle band for psychiatrists: a median of $266,370, ranking 25 of 46. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Psychiatrists ranks 2 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.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for psychiatrists on its $266,370 median: $182,917 retained after tax becomes $180,424 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $258,210 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Psychiatrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $134,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $266,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $353,330 |
| This salary | $266,370 |
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 | $182,917 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $193,929 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$19,143 |
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 | $249,596 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$28,336 |
| 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 psychiatrists in Colorado earn under $266,370 and half over. The published range runs $134,050 at the tenth percentile to $353,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $182,917, from $266,370, 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 2 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $180,424, the adjusted value of that $266,370 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 2 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for psychiatrists in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $134,050 to $353,330; 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 $182,917 from $266,370. 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 2 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $180,424 — the adjusted value of that $266,370 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 2 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 $258,210, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $134,050 at the bottom tenth to $353,330 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 $180,424 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 $182,917 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $258,210. 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 ($134,050) and the ninetieth ($353,330) 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 $180,424 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 $182,917 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.