Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,307
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$36,693
27.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$96,967
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
$135,000
Kept after tax
$98,307
Worth in national money
$96,967
State rank
1
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $135,000, which ranks 1 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 28.67% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Colorado. It ranks 31 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $135,000 the take-home is $98,307, which is worth about $96,967 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $140,020, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado ranks 1 of 49 states publishing a median for sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products, at $135,000 — about 28.67% 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.
- Within Colorado, sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products ranks 31 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products on its $135,000 median: $98,307 retained after tax becomes $96,967 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $140,020 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $74,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $135,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $215,140 |
| This salary | $135,000 |
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 | $98,307 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $103,539 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,582 |
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 | $127,346 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,611 |
| 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 $135,000. The published range is $74,290 up to $215,140, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $98,307, from $135,000, 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 31 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $96,967 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 31.
- Reported values are medians; for sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $74,290 to $215,140. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Colorado is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $98,307 from $135,000. 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 31 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $96,967, worked from $135,000, 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 31 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 $140,020 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $74,290, the highest tenth $215,140, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $96,967 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Colorado then takes its own share, leaving $98,307.
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 49 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 $140,020. 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 ($74,290) and the ninetieth ($215,140) 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 $96,967 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 $98,307 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.