What does the top of the Web Developer pay scale look like in Colorado?

The 90th percentile lands at $155,110. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $113,650.

How many Web Developers does Colorado employ?

BLS OES counts — Web Developers employed in Colorado in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

Where does Colorado rank for Web Developer pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Colorado ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

How wide is the wage spread in Colorado?

P10 to P90 spans $54,870 to $155,110. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

What are the limits of these Web Developer 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.

Web developer (15-1254) vs software engineer (15-1252) in Colorado — what's the gap?

BLS splits these into separate SOC codes, and the gap is large. In Colorado, software developers (15-1252) typically earn 40-80% above web developers (15-1254) at the median, reflecting the latter's mix of agency work, WordPress/Shopify implementation, marketing-site builds, and front-end-only roles. Job titles labeled 'web developer' that are functionally full-stack engineers (React/Node, system design, on-call rotation) are usually classified by employers under 15-1252 and do not appear in this page's BLS aggregate. Read this page as the front-end / agency / CMS-implementer wage band, not the full software-engineering market.

Agency / contract vs in-house vs freelance web developer in Colorado?

Agency-employed web developers in Colorado typically anchor near the BLS median with limited bonus exposure. In-house developers at non-tech companies (e-commerce, media, government) sit at or above median with stable benefits. Freelance / contract web developers can earn substantially above the BLS figure on a gross-hourly basis, but net of self-employment tax (~15.3%), self-paid health insurance, lack of paid leave, and revenue-gap risk, the realized take-home premium is closer to 10-20% than the headline gross might suggest. Specialty contract work (e-commerce platform migrations, headless CMS, accessibility remediation) commands the largest premium in Colorado.

How Much Do Web Developers Make in Colorado? $102K (2026 BLS + BEA)

TL;DR

Median Web Developer salary in Colorado: $101,760 nominal, $99,906 real (BEA RPP basis).
Nominal: #9/51 · Real: #11/51 — ranking shifts by 2 positions after RPP.
Mid-band cost of living: real and nominal wage are within a few percent of each other.
Wage envelope: $54,870 (P10) to $155,110 (P90), with quartiles at $71,370 and $113,650.

Wage breakdown — Colorado

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$54,870	$53,870
P25 (lower quartile)	$71,370	$70,070
P50 (median)	$101,760	$99,906
P75 (upper quartile)	$113,650	$111,579
P90 (top tier)	$155,110	$152,284
Mean	$102,650	$100,780
Employment	Web Developers 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 (Web Developer)	$101,760	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$13,634	13.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$3,784	4.4% flat (2026)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$7,785	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$76,557	75.2% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$75,162	÷ (101.9 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Colorado state-tax burden means for Web Developer take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.7% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $76,557 (75.2% of gross). After the 101.9 RPP, real take-home is $75,162.

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 $90,930 for Web Developers with mean pay of $98,790 and total employment of 78,860. Colorado sits at #9 on nominal pay and #11 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Colorado falls 2 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

What does the top of the Web Developer pay scale look like in Colorado?: The 90th percentile lands at $155,110. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $113,650.
How many Web Developers does Colorado employ?: BLS OES counts — Web Developers employed in Colorado in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
Where does Colorado rank for Web Developer pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Colorado ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
How wide is the wage spread in Colorado?: P10 to P90 spans $54,870 to $155,110. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
What are the limits of these Web Developer 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.
Web developer (15-1254) vs software engineer (15-1252) in Colorado — what's the gap?: BLS splits these into separate SOC codes, and the gap is large. In Colorado, software developers (15-1252) typically earn 40-80% above web developers (15-1254) at the median, reflecting the latter's mix of agency work, WordPress/Shopify implementation, marketing-site builds, and front-end-only roles. Job titles labeled 'web developer' that are functionally full-stack engineers (React/Node, system design, on-call rotation) are usually classified by employers under 15-1252 and do not appear in this page's BLS aggregate. Read this page as the front-end / agency / CMS-implementer wage band, not the full software-engineering market.
Agency / contract vs in-house vs freelance web developer in Colorado?: Agency-employed web developers in Colorado typically anchor near the BLS median with limited bonus exposure. In-house developers at non-tech companies (e-commerce, media, government) sit at or above median with stable benefits. Freelance / contract web developers can earn substantially above the BLS figure on a gross-hourly basis, but net of self-employment tax (~15.3%), self-paid health insurance, lack of paid leave, and revenue-gap risk, the realized take-home premium is closer to 10-20% than the headline gross might suggest. Specialty contract work (e-commerce platform migrations, headless CMS, accessibility remediation) commands the largest premium in Colorado.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 15-1254, 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 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Colorado Web Developer 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.