Registered Nurses in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,660
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$24,600
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,629
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
$100,260
Kept after tax
$75,660
Worth in national money
$74,629
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for registered nurses. The middle earner takes $100,260, which ranks 14 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.78% above the national middle.
- Within Colorado this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, registered nurses ranks 94 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $100,260, tax leaves $75,660, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $74,629 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $99,370.
- Colorado ranks 14 of 51 states publishing a median for registered nurses, at $100,260 — about 2.78% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Colorado publishes a median for, registered nurses sits 94 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.
- Because Colorado sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for registered nurses — median $100,260 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $75,660 retained, $74,629 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $99,370 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $79,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $124,940 |
| This salary | $100,260 |
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 | $75,660 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,363 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,042 |
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 | $94,996 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,727 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $100,260 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $79,500 and the ninetieth is $124,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $75,660 take-home in Colorado comes from $100,260. 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 94 of 491.
- Two cautions on $74,629, the adjusted value of that $100,260 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 94 of 491 locally.
- The Colorado median of $100,260 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $79,500 to $124,940. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $75,660, from $100,260, 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 94 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 51 for it.
- This $74,629 adjusted figure, worked from $100,260, 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 94 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 94 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $79,500 at the tenth percentile, $124,940 at the ninetieth.
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 $74,629 — 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, $75,660 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 ($79,500 to $124,940) 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 $74,629 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 $75,660 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.