Jobs and pay in Colorado

The highest-paying occupations in Colorado

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

4 further occupations are paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes them only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: cardiologists, emergency medicine physicians, obstetricians and gynecologists, surgeons, all other. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Orthodontists$416,000
2. Dermatologists$398,810
3. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$385,410
4. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons$360,820
5. Neurologists$356,250
6. Radiologists$344,270
7. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers$307,490
8. General internal medicine physicians$299,990
9. Physicians, all other$298,320
10. Physicians, pathologists$294,510
11. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$288,050
12. Psychiatrists$266,370
13. Family medicine physicians$265,560
14. Chief executives$213,370
15. Computer and information systems managers$199,420
16. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates$198,790
17. Pediatricians, general$196,440
18. Dentists, all other specialists$186,640
19. Architectural and engineering managers$183,810
20. Marketing managers$182,730
21. Financial managers$182,690
22. Sales managers$180,850
23. Air traffic controllers$177,380
24. Petroleum engineers$172,190
25. Purchasing managers$171,250

Where the jobs actually are in Colorado

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Fast food and counter workers82,010 employed
2. Retail salespersons76,660 employed
3. Stockers and order fillers55,520 employed
4. Registered nurses54,490 employed
5. Cashiers51,670 employed
6. Business operations specialists, all other45,670 employed
7. Home health and personal care aides44,650 employed
8. Software developers43,320 employed
9. General and operations managers41,870 employed
10. Waiters and waitresses40,680 employed
11. Customer service representatives38,770 employed
12. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel37,810 employed
13. Accountants and auditors35,410 employed
14. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners34,220 employed
15. Project management specialists32,390 employed
16. Office clerks, general31,770 employed
17. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand31,140 employed
18. Cooks, restaurant30,600 employed
19. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive29,120 employed
20. Market research analysts and marketing specialists27,880 employed
21. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products27,530 employed
22. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers26,390 employed
23. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks26,140 employed
24. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers26,100 employed
25. First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers25,510 employed

The best-paid Colorado work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Air traffic controllers$177,380 · Associate's degree
2. Commercial pilots$139,680 · Postsecondary nondegree award
3. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$132,610 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$126,810 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$125,560 · Postsecondary nondegree award
6. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$123,360 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Nuclear medicine technologists$116,990 · Associate's degree
8. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers$110,450 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Dental hygienists$109,580 · Associate's degree
10. Diagnostic medical sonographers$108,410 · Associate's degree
11. Radiation therapists$108,020 · Associate's degree
12. Surgical assistants$107,440 · Postsecondary nondegree award
13. Detectives and criminal investigators$105,480 · High school diploma or equivalent
14. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$105,380 · Associate's degree
15. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$103,980 · High school diploma or equivalent
16. Power plant operators$102,780 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers$102,580 · Postsecondary nondegree award
18. Property, real estate, and community association managers$100,080 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians$98,990 · Associate's degree
20. Gas plant operators$98,080 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. Police and sheriff's patrol officers$97,350 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment$96,680 · Postsecondary nondegree award
23. Cardiovascular technologists and technicians$94,190 · Associate's degree
24. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$93,750 · High school diploma or equivalent
25. Postmasters and mail superintendents$93,000 · High school diploma or equivalent

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Colorado does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Colorado employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Atmospheric and space scientists lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states