Security Guards in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,180
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$7,970
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,673
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
$45,150
Kept after tax
$37,180
Worth in national money
$36,673
State rank
7
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for security guards is strong here. Colorado's middle earner gets $45,150, putting the state 7 of 51 — about 18.75% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Colorado, this one sits low: 424 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $45,150 the take-home is $37,180, which is worth about $36,673 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $45,870, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For security guards, Colorado sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,150, ranking 7 of 51 and running about 18.75% 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.
- Security guards occupies position 424 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 security guards on its $45,150 median: $37,180 retained after tax becomes $36,673 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $45,870 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,360 |
| This salary | $45,150 |
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 | $37,180 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,458 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,903 |
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 | $43,559 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,511 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of security guards in Colorado earn under $45,150 and half over. The published range runs $36,160 at the tenth percentile to $57,360 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,180 take-home in Colorado comes from $45,150. 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 424 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,673, the adjusted value of that $45,150 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 424 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for security guards in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,160 to $57,360; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $37,180, from $45,150, 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 424 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 7 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $36,673 — the adjusted value of that $45,150 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 424 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,160 at the tenth percentile, $57,360 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 $36,673 — 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 $37,180.
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 ($36,160 to $57,360) 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 $36,673 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 $37,180 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.