School Psychologists in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$91,765
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$33,005
26.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$90,514
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
$124,770
Kept after tax
$91,765
Worth in national money
$90,514
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for school psychologists is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $124,770, putting the state 2 of 51 — about 29.98% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Colorado reports, school psychologists comes in at 47 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $124,770, tax leaves $91,765, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $90,514 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $124,220.
- For school psychologists, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $124,770, ranking 2 of 51 and running about 29.98% 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.
- School psychologists ranks 47 of 491 occupations by median in Colorado, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Because Colorado sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for school psychologists — median $124,770 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $91,765 retained, $90,514 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $124,220 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: School Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $88,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $124,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,570 |
| This salary | $124,770 |
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 | $91,765 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $96,546 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,839 |
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 | $117,889 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,294 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $124,770 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $88,090 and the ninetieth is $161,570 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $91,765, from $124,770, 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 47 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 $90,514 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 47.
- The Colorado median of $124,770 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $88,090 to $161,570. 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 $91,765 from $124,770. 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 47 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $90,514, worked from $124,770, 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 47 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $88,090 at the tenth percentile, $161,570 at the ninetieth.
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 $90,514 of national purchasing power.
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 $91,765.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($88,090 to $161,570) 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 $90,514 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 $91,765 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.