Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,883
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$13,357
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,149
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
$67,240
Kept after tax
$53,883
Worth in national money
$53,149
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Colorado is 23 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $67,240. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Colorado, this sits in the middle: 206 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $67,240, take-home of $53,883 is worth roughly $53,149 in national money. The average comes to $74,310, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado ranks 23 of 51 for special education teachers, secondary school at $67,240. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Special education teachers, secondary school ranks 206 of 491 occupations in Colorado by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for special education teachers, secondary school, whose median is $67,240, the adjusted figure of $53,149 differs little from $53,883 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $74,310 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,430 |
| This salary | $67,240 |
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 | $53,883 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,133 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,617 |
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 | $64,347 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,675 |
| 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 special education teachers, secondary school in Colorado earn under $67,240 and half over. The published range runs $51,760 at the tenth percentile to $100,430 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $53,883 take-home in Colorado comes from $67,240. 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 206 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,149, the adjusted value of that $67,240 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 206 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, secondary school in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,760 to $100,430; 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 $53,883, from $67,240, 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 206 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $53,149 — the adjusted value of that $67,240 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 206 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 $74,310 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $51,760 and the top tenth $100,430 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $53,149 — 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, $53,883 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.
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 $74,310. 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 ($51,760) and the ninetieth ($100,430) 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 $53,149 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 $53,883 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.