How much does a Plumber make in Colorado?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $63,610 for Plumbers in Colorado as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $51,280 and the 75th-percentile is $77,990.

How are Colorado Plumber salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

How wide is the wage spread in Colorado?

P10 to P90 spans $46,370 to $98,680. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

Is Colorado a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Plumbers?

No — Colorado's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.

What are the limits of these Plumber salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Colorado?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Colorado.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Plumber Salary in Colorado (2026): $64K Median, BEA RPP-Adjusted

TL;DR

Colorado pays Plumbers a BLS median of $63,610 — the more useful number is $62,451, what that paycheck buys after rent and services.
Bottom quartile $51,280, top quartile $77,990. The P90 ($98,680) is roughly 2.1× the P10 ($46,370).
Mid-band cost of living: real and nominal wage are within a few percent of each other.
Plumber ranking: #21 on the BLS table, #33 once cost of living is in.

Wage breakdown — Colorado

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$46,370	$45,525
P25 (lower quartile)	$51,280	$50,346
P50 (median)	$63,610	$62,451
P75 (upper quartile)	$77,990	$76,569
P90 (top tier)	$98,680	$96,882
Mean	$67,020	$65,799
Employment	9,970 Plumbers in Colorado

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Colorado index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	101.9
Goods	99.2
Services	86.8
Rents	130.5

Colorado's overall RPP (101.9) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Colorado (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Plumber)	$63,610	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$5,495	8.6% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$2,106	4.4% flat (2026)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$4,866	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$51,143	80.4% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$50,211	÷ (101.9 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Colorado state-tax burden means for Plumber take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.3% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $51,143 (80.4% of gross). After the 101.9 RPP, real take-home is $50,211.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $62,970 for Plumbers with mean pay of $69,940 and total employment of 455,940. Colorado sits at #21 on nominal pay and #33 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Colorado falls 12 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Plumber make in Colorado?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $63,610 for Plumbers in Colorado as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $51,280 and the 75th-percentile is $77,990.
How are Colorado Plumber salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
How wide is the wage spread in Colorado?: P10 to P90 spans $46,370 to $98,680. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
Is Colorado a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Plumbers?: No — Colorado's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.
What are the limits of these Plumber salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Colorado?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Colorado.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 47-2152, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-07.

Cross-comparison: see how Colorado Plumber pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.