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Colorado Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Colorado take-home pay after federal, state, FICA, and any local taxes for 2026.

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Colorado's TABOR refund mechanism is not modeled by the calculator; refunds operate as credits on the annual state return rather than paycheck adjustments.

Denver Occupational Privilege Tax is a small fixed monthly fee and is not modeled by the calculator.

Quick answer

Colorado runs a flat 4.4% state income tax with no city wage tax anywhere in the state. At $85,000 single, the after-tax estimate is $65,222 per year. The flat-rate structure means Colorado's marginal and effective rates land within a fraction of a percent at every income level.

Colorado's flat 4.4% state income tax sits below most progressive states' top brackets but above the no-income-tax neighbors. The rate has stepped down in small increments over recent years, and further reductions remain on the legislative agenda contingent on TABOR-driven revenue triggers. Voter-approved TABOR limits how fast state revenue can grow, with excess collections returned to taxpayers as refundable credits on the annual state return rather than as paycheck adjustments. Paid Family and Medical Leave (FAMLI) is wired into withholding as a small employee share, capped on annual wages, and it shows up on the pay stub as Colorado FAMLI. Denver's Occupational Privilege Tax is a fixed monthly fee on employees earning above a city threshold, separate from any percentage-based local income tax (which Colorado does not have). At $85,000 for a single filer, federal income tax lands at $9,870, state income tax at $3,032, combined FICA at $6,503, and take-home for the year at $65,222. The effective total rate is 23.27%. Use the calculator to layer in 401(k) or HSA contributions or compare Colorado against a no-tax neighbor like Wyoming.

Colorado state tax breakdown

Single-filer state income tax brackets used by the calculator for 2026.

Taxable IncomeRate
$0+4.4%

Major Colorado metros

These metros do not levy a separate city income tax; paycheck math runs the Colorado state schedule above. Each metro page adds city-specific context (cost of living, major employers, commute patterns) on top of the state calculator.

DenverColorado metro context

vs. baseline ($85,000 single filer)

A $85,000 salary in Colorado takes home approximately $3,400 less than the same salary in a no-income-tax state like Texas or Florida.

What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Colorado take-home pay using 2026 federal brackets after the standard deduction, FICA contributions (Social Security at the federal rate up to the annual wage base, Medicare on all wages, plus the Additional Medicare Tax above the filing-status threshold), Colorado's state income tax schedule above, and any local income tax or state-administered payroll program (SDI, PFML, FAMLI) when you select a city or county. For states with no broad-based personal income tax, the state line is zero. It excludes employer-side payroll taxes, custom W-4 elections, supplemental-wage handling for bonuses or equity vesting, and income from sources other than W-2 wages.

Colorado paycheck FAQ

What is the federal tax bill on $85,000 single in Colorado for 2026?
Federal tax at $85,000 single in Colorado works out to $9,870, putting the top slice of taxable income in the 22% federal bracket after the standard deduction. The federal computation runs identically across all 50 states, so a Colorado resident sees the same federal line as someone in Texas or California at this gross.
How does Colorado's flat state rate apply at $85,000?
Colorado's flat 4.4% applies to taxable income at every level; the marginal and effective rates collapse to roughly the same figure. At $85,000 for a single filer, state tax lands at $3,032, an effective state rate of 3.57%. FAMLI adds a small per-paycheck contribution on top, already rolled into the take-home estimate.
What is the Denver Occupational Privilege Tax?
Denver levies a fixed monthly OPT on employees earning above a small city threshold, paired with a similarly small employer-side fee. The amount is a flat dollar figure each month, not a percentage of wages, so it does not scale with salary. Other Colorado cities do not impose a broad-based local income tax on wages.
How much does a 401(k) contribution save at $85,000 in Colorado?
At $85,000 single in Colorado, the combined marginal rate is 26.4% (federal 22% plus state 4.4%). Each dollar of traditional 401(k) or HSA contribution reduces federal and Colorado taxable income at that combined rate. Because the Colorado rate is flat, the per-dollar saving stays constant across the entire salary range.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Colorado?
Joint filers at $85,000 in Colorado take home about $69,960, roughly $4,738 more than the single estimate. Wider federal MFJ brackets and the doubled standard deduction drive the change; Colorado's 4.40% flat rate does not depend on filing status, so the state line moves only with the federal-side recalculation. Head of Household at this income lands at about $68,144, about $2,922 more than Single, helped entirely by the wider federal HoH bracket schedule. Combined two-return MFS take-home runs roughly $4,738 less than MFJ, since federal MFS thresholds equal MFJ halved and FAMLI applies per individual.
How does Colorado compare to Utah at $85,000?
Both states use single-rate structures: Colorado at 4.4%, Utah on a flat rate just slightly higher. The state-tax gap between Colorado and Utah at $85,000 single is roughly $279 per year, small in absolute dollars. Federal tax and FICA are identical across the two. Utah's taxpayer credit slightly softens its headline rate at lower incomes.

Take-home at common salaries for Colorado

Dedicated salary-anchor pages with a federal-state-FICA breakdown, vs-baseline callouts, and a calculator pre-set to that salary and Colorado.

$50,000 after taxesin Colorado$75,000 after taxesin Colorado$100,000 after taxesin Colorado$150,000 after taxesin Colorado$200,000 after taxesin Colorado$250,000 after taxesin Colorado

See also

Run the full US paycheck calculatorRun the same numbers against WyomingCompare to the Arizona paycheck calculatorNew Mexico take-home, for comparisonHow the same salary lands in KansasNebraska take-home, for comparisonWork out per-paycheck pay from an hourly rate in ColoradoTime and a half after Colorado payroll taxColorado self-employed take-home, both FICA halvesPut two states side by sideWhat the terms on your pay stub meanHow we calculate paycheck taxes

Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Colorado paycheck page is reviewed against primary federal and state sources before each major tax-year update. Source links below are the references used to validate brackets, wage bases, and supported local taxes.

Reviewed by

PaycheckCalc Research Desk

Last reviewed

2026-07-10