Receptionists and Information Clerks in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,795
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$7,215
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,321
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
$42,010
Kept after tax
$34,795
Worth in national money
$34,321
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $42,010, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 10.52% ahead of the national figure.
- Against 491 occupations Colorado publishes, this job lands at 446. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $42,010, tax leaves $34,795, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $34,321 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $42,380, since top earners drag the number up.
- For receptionists and information clerks, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $42,010, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 10.52% 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.
- Within Colorado, this work ranks 446 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Colorado sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for receptionists and information clerks — median $42,010 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $34,795 retained, $34,321 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $42,380 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Receptionists and Information Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,490 |
| This salary | $42,010 |
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 | $34,795 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,935 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,659 |
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 | $40,591 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,216 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,010 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,200 and the ninetieth is $51,490 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $34,795, from $42,010, 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 446 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $34,321, the adjusted value of that $42,010 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 446 of 491 locally.
- The Colorado median of $42,010 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,200 to $51,490. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,795 from $42,010. 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 446 of 491 locally.
- This $34,321 adjusted figure, worked from $42,010, 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 446 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 446 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,200 and the top tenth $51,490, so most people doing this work in Colorado sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,321 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $34,795 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,200 to $51,490) 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 $34,321 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 $34,795 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.