Veterinary Technologists and Technicians in Colorado

A dog standing on a vet’s examination table while its owner keeps a hand on its back.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$40,598

after federal, FICA and Colorado tax

Tax takes

$9,052

18.2% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$40,044

Colorado costs more than average

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

$49,650

Kept after tax

$40,598

Worth in national money

$40,044

State rank

12

of 51 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 $49,650, ranking 12 of 51 states and sitting about 4.79% above the national middle.
  • Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Colorado reports figures for, this is number 357.
  • No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $49,650, take-home of $40,598 is worth roughly $40,044 in national money. The average comes to $52,010, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Colorado's median for veterinary technologists and technicians is $49,650, about 4.79% above the national figure and 12 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
  • In Colorado's occupational distribution, veterinary technologists and technicians sits at 357 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
  • Price parity in Colorado is near the national base, so for veterinary technologists and technicians, whose median is $49,650, the adjusted figure of $40,044 differs little from $40,598 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $52,010 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

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: Veterinary Technologists and Technicians

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$37,820
Half earn under$49,650
Top tenth earn over$60,380
This salary$49,650

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

Compare with
+$1,476take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Colorado$40,598
Take-home in Texas$42,074
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$3,253

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

Moving to
$0now · $49,650$45,716
$45,716in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$47,813
You could take a cut of−$3,934
Prices in Texas97 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 $49,650. The published range is $37,820 up to $60,380, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • That $40,598 take-home in Colorado comes from $49,650. 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 357 of 491.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Colorado, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,044, the adjusted value of that $49,650 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 357 of 491 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for veterinary technologists and technicians in Colorado the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,820 to $60,380. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Retained pay of $40,598, from $49,650, 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 357 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 51 for it.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Colorado, so $40,044 — the adjusted value of that $49,650 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 357 of 491 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $52,010, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

The range here is narrow. From $37,820 at the bottom tenth to $60,380 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.

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 $40,044 rather than its face figure.

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, $40,598 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 $52,010. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,820 to $60,380) 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 $40,044 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 $40,598 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.