Public Relations Managers in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$116,130
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$46,740
28.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$114,547
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
$162,870
Kept after tax
$116,130
Worth in national money
$114,547
State rank
8
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for public relations managers is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $162,870, putting the state 8 of 48 — about 10.86% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Colorado this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, public relations managers ranks 17 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $162,870 the take-home is $116,130, which is worth about $114,547 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $170,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For public relations managers, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $162,870, ranking 8 of 48 and running about 10.86% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation Colorado publishes a median for, public relations managers sits 17 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for public relations managers on its $162,870 median: $116,130 retained after tax becomes $114,547 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $170,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Relations Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $98,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $162,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $238,240 |
| This salary | $162,870 |
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 | $116,130 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $122,588 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,605 |
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 | $153,422 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,499 |
| 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 $162,870. The published range is $98,180 up to $238,240, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $116,130 take-home in Colorado comes from $162,870. 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 17 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $114,547 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 17.
- Reported values are medians; for public relations managers in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $98,180 to $238,240. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $116,130, from $162,870, 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 17 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $114,547, worked from $162,870, 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 17 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 $170,820, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $98,180 and the top tenth $238,240 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $114,547 of national purchasing power.
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, $116,130 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 48 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 $170,820. 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 ($98,180) and the ninetieth ($238,240) 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 $114,547 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 $116,130 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.