Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,195
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$16,615
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,374
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
$76,810
Kept after tax
$60,195
Worth in national money
$59,374
State rank
37
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $76,810, ranking 37 of 50 states — about 4.39% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 164.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $76,810 the take-home is $60,195, which is worth about $59,374 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $83,460, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado ranks 37 of 50 for psychology teachers, postsecondary, with a median of $76,810 — about 4.39% 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.
- In Colorado's occupational distribution, psychology teachers, postsecondary sits at 164 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.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for psychology teachers, postsecondary on its $76,810 median: $60,195 retained after tax becomes $59,374 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $83,460 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,980 |
| This salary | $76,810 |
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 | $60,195 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,866 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,319 |
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 | $73,013 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,348 |
| 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 psychology teachers, postsecondary in Colorado earn under $76,810 and half over. The published range runs $39,580 at the tenth percentile to $132,980 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $60,195 take-home in Colorado comes from $76,810. 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 164 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,374 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 164.
- Figures are distribution medians for psychology teachers, postsecondary in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,580 to $132,980; 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 $60,195, from $76,810, 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 164 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,374, worked from $76,810, 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 164 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 $83,460 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $39,580 at the bottom tenth to $132,980 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 $59,374 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Colorado's own levy, $60,195 remains.
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 50 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 $83,460. 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 ($39,580) and the ninetieth ($132,980) 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 $59,374 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 $60,195 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.