Waiters and Waitresses in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,960
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$7,900
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,456
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
$44,860
Kept after tax
$36,960
Worth in national money
$36,456
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Colorado is one of the better-paying states for waiters and waitresses. The middle earner takes $44,860, which ranks 8 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 27.33% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Colorado, this one sits low: 428 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $44,860 the take-home is $36,960, which is worth about $36,456 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $51,240, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Colorado ranks 8 of 51 states publishing a median for waiters and waitresses, at $44,860 — about 27.33% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Waiters and waitresses occupies position 428 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 waiters and waitresses on its $44,860 median: $36,960 retained after tax becomes $36,456 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $51,240 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Waiters and Waitresses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,160 |
| This salary | $44,860 |
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 | $36,960 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,225 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,881 |
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 | $43,285 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,484 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,860 as a midpoint for Colorado, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,800 and the ninetieth is $78,160 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Colorado the take-home figure of $36,960, from $44,860, 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 428 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 $36,456 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 428.
- The Colorado median of $44,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,800 to $78,160. 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 $36,960 from $44,860. 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 428 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,456, worked from $44,860, 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 428 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $51,240, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $30,800 and the top tenth $78,160 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $36,456 of national purchasing power.
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, $36,960 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $51,240. 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 ($30,800) and the ninetieth ($78,160) 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 $36,456 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 $36,960 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.