Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,608
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$8,422
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,081
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
$47,030
Kept after tax
$38,608
Worth in national money
$38,081
State rank
12
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Colorado pays this job a middle wage of $47,030, ranking 12 of 46 states and sitting about 9.96% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Colorado, this one sits low: 396 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $47,030 the take-home is $38,608, which is worth about $38,081 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $47,420, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado's median for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood is $47,030, about 9.96% above the national figure and 12 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood occupies position 396 of 491 in Colorado's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Colorado's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood on its $47,030 median: $38,608 retained after tax becomes $38,081 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $47,420 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,980 |
| This salary | $47,030 |
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 | $38,608 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,969 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,049 |
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 | $45,336 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,688 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,030 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,110 and the ninetieth is $57,980 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Colorado's $38,608, worked from $47,030. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 396 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,081, the adjusted value of that $47,030 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 396 of 491 in the state.
- The Colorado median of $47,030 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,110 to $57,980. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Colorado take-home of $38,608, on $47,030 for work ranking 396 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 396 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $38,081 — the adjusted value of that $47,030 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 396 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,110 and the top tenth $57,980, 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 $38,081 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $38,608.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,110 to $57,980) 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 $38,081 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 $38,608 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.