Colorado Paycheck Calculator: Your Real 2026 Take Home Pay

A Colorado paycheck calculator shows you exactly what lands in your bank account after Colorado takes its flat 4.4% and the federal government takes its share. Enter your salary, pick your pay frequency, and you get your take home pay per paycheck and per year in seconds. No signup, no email, no cost. Colorado is the simplest flat tax state to calculate, because its tax starts from your federal taxable income, so there is no separate state deduction to track.

Colorado Paycheck Calculator

Enter your pay and see exactly what lands in your bank account for 2026.

Your take home pay per paycheck$0.00
Per paycheckPer year
Gross pay
Federal income tax
Colorado state income tax
Social Security (6.2%)
Medicare (1.45%)
Take home pay

Colorado charges a flat 4.4% on your federal taxable income, which is your pay less 401k and pre tax deductions and less the federal standard deduction of $16,100 single, $24,150 head of household, or $32,200 married filing jointly. There is no local income tax anywhere in Colorado. Estimates use 2026 IRS brackets and the 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500. Your real withholding follows the Colorado DR 1098 withholding tables, so your actual check can differ by a few dollars.

How do I use the Colorado paycheck calculator?

Using the Colorado paycheck calculator takes less than a minute. So how much will you actually take home? Let us run the numbers together.

  1. Enter your gross pay. Type your salary per year, your pay per paycheck, or your hourly wage. The calculator converts hourly pay using 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year.
  2. Pick your pay frequency. Weekly, every 2 weeks, twice a month, or monthly. Most Colorado employers pay every 2 weeks.
  3. Choose your filing status. Single, married filing jointly, or head of household. Your status changes both your federal tax and your Colorado tax, because Colorado starts from your federal taxable income.
  4. Add your 401k and other pre tax deductions. Your 401k and your health insurance premiums lower your federal taxable income, so they lower your Colorado tax too. Add them to get an exact result.
  5. Press Calculate My Take Home Pay. You get your net pay per paycheck and per year, with every deduction shown on its own line.

How much is Colorado income tax in 2026?

Colorado charges one flat rate of 4.4% on your Colorado taxable income in 2026. There are no brackets to climb and no separate rate for high earners. Every dollar of taxable income pays the same 4.4%. Voters cut the rate from 4.63% to 4.55% in 2020 and then to 4.4% in 2022, and the 4.4% rate has applied ever since, apart from a temporary one year cut to 4.25% in 2024 when surplus revenue was returned under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Your Colorado taxable income is your federal taxable income, plus a small set of Colorado additions and minus a small set of Colorado subtractions. For most wage earners with no special adjustments, that means the math is just your pay less your 401k and pre tax deductions less the federal standard deduction, times 4.4%. The federal standard deduction for 2026 is $16,100 if you file single, $24,150 if you file as head of household, and $32,200 if you file married filing jointly.

Filing statusFederal standard deductionColorado rate on federal taxable income
Single$16,1004.4%
Head of household$24,1504.4%
Married filing jointly$32,2004.4%

One detail catches people out. Because Colorado starts from federal taxable income, anything that lowers your federal tax also lowers your Colorado tax. A bigger 401k contribution, a health savings account contribution, or a larger federal deduction all shrink both lines at once. The flip side is also true. If you take a smaller federal deduction, your Colorado tax rises too, even though Colorado made no change of its own. That is the whole calculation, and it is why the Colorado paycheck calculator asks for your 401k and pre tax deductions before it touches the state line.

Colorado has no local income tax. No city or county in the state charges an income tax on your wages. Denver charges a small flat occupational privilege tax, which is a fixed monthly amount, not a percentage of your income, so it does not change the percentage math on this page. Local governments raise most of their money through property tax and sales tax instead. The state sales tax base is 2.9%, and cities and counties add their own share on top.

What does an $80,000 salary look like in Colorado?

Meet Sofia, a project coordinator in Colorado Springs who earns $80,000 a year, files single, and gets paid every 2 weeks. Her paycheck shows exactly how the federal taxable income shortcut works in real life.

LinePer paycheckPer year
Gross pay$3,076.92$80,000.00
Federal income tax$337.31$8,770.00
Colorado state income tax$108.14$2,811.60
Social Security (6.2%)$190.77$4,960.00
Medicare (1.45%)$44.62$1,160.00
Take home pay$2,396.09$62,298.40

Here is the math behind her check. Her federal taxable income is $80,000 less the $16,100 federal standard deduction, which leaves $63,900. The 2026 federal brackets tax that at 10% on the first $12,400, 12% on the next $38,000, and 22% on the last $13,500, for a total of $8,770. Her Colorado taxable income is the same $63,900, because Colorado starts from federal taxable income. The flat 4.4% on that amount is $2,811.60. Social Security takes 6.2% of $80,000, which is $4,960, and Medicare takes 1.45%, which is $1,160. Add it all up and Sofia keeps $62,298.40 of her $80,000, or $2,396.09 every two weeks.

Now compare that with the temporary 2024 rate. At 4.25%, Sofia would have paid $2,715.75 in Colorado tax. The return to 4.4% costs her $95.85 a year. It is a small change, but it shows how the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights moves the rate in both directions. When state revenue runs above the constitutional cap, the surplus comes back to taxpayers, sometimes as a lower rate for a year. When it does not, the rate sits at 4.4%. The Colorado paycheck calculator gives you the same breakdown for any salary you type in, so try your own number next.

What about an hourly worker? Take a warehouse associate in Aurora who earns $25 an hour and works 40 hours a week. That is $52,000 a year. Federal tax comes to $4,060, Colorado tax comes to $1,579.60, Social Security is $3,224, and Medicare is $754. Take home pay is $42,382.40 a year, or $1,630.09 every two weeks. The same flat rate applies at every income level, so the math stays simple no matter what you earn.

Colorado paycheck breakdown for an $80,000 salary in Colorado Springs showing federal tax, state tax, Social Security and Medicare

How does Colorado compare with nearby states?

Run the same $75,000 single salary through the Colorado paycheck calculator and then look at what the neighbors charge. The table below uses each state’s own 2026 rules and the same $75,000 salary, single, no 401k, no extra deductions.

State2026 income taxTax on $75,000 single
Colorado4.4% flat$2,591.60
Arizona2.5% flat$1,481.25
NevadaNo income tax$0
California1% to 12.3% graduated$2,823.12 plus $975 disability
WyomingNo income tax$0

Colorado sits above Arizona and below California on the same salary, and the gap to Arizona is the interesting one. Arizona’s rate is lower and its standard deduction is separate, so Arizona takes $1,110.35 less on $75,000. California takes $231.52 more than Colorado in income tax, and then adds a disability insurance line that Colorado does not have at all. The no tax states still win outright, and nobody can beat zero, but Colorado’s rate has only moved down over the last decade.

The comparison also shows why the starting point matters as much as the rate. Colorado taxes your federal taxable income, so a worker with a big 401k contribution pays less Colorado tax than the same worker in a state that taxes gross pay. Arizona taxes pay less its own standard deduction, which is a different shortcut to a similar answer. That is exactly why a calculator beats a rule of thumb. Type in your own salary and see your own number instead of trusting a comparison built on someone else’s pay.

Denver and the Front Range drive the other side of the decision. Denver is the economic center of the mountain states, with aerospace, tech, and health care employers, and its city minimum wage of $19.29 an hour is far above the state floor. Salaries there run higher than the state average, which makes the flat rate more valuable, because a flat rate never punishes a raise the way a graduated scale does. A promotion from $75,000 to $95,000 costs the same 4.4% on every new dollar, and there is no bracket jump waiting to take a bigger bite.

What makes Colorado different from other states?

Colorado is the only state whose income tax starts directly from federal taxable income. That single design choice removes a whole layer of state only math. There is no Colorado standard deduction to look up, no Colorado exemption to phase out, and no separate Colorado bracket table. If you know your federal taxable income, you know your Colorado taxable income, and the rest is one multiplication. It is the cleanest flat tax calculation in the country, and it is why this page needs no state deduction table.

The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is the other Colorado original. It caps state revenue growth at inflation plus population growth, and any surplus above the cap must be returned to taxpayers. The refund has arrived as a lower tax rate, as a direct check, and as a tax credit in different years, and the mechanism changes with the size of the surplus. You must file a Colorado return to receive any refund you are owed, which is one more reason to file even in a year when your withholding covered your bill.

Retirement income gets special treatment that grows with age. Colorado allows a pension and annuity subtraction, and federally taxed Social Security benefits are exempt for retirees aged 65 and older. Younger retirees face different rules, and the exact subtraction caps are published each year in the Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide. If you are planning retirement income, do not assume your Colorado tax works like your federal tax, because the subtractions change the answer.

The wage floor is also higher than most states, and it varies by city. The statewide minimum wage is $15.16 an hour in 2026, set by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Denver sets $19.29 an hour, Edgewater sets $18.17, and Boulder sets $16.82. Tipped workers can be paid $12.14 an hour in cash wages statewide as long as tips bring them to at least $15.16, because the law allows a tip credit of up to $3.02 an hour. If you work in Denver, Boulder, or Edgewater, your employer owes you the higher local rate instead of the state rate.

Colorado overtime rules are stronger than federal law. Overtime is due at one and a half times the regular rate after 40 hours in a week, after 12 hours in a day, or after 12 consecutive hours, whichever gives the worker more pay. That daily trigger is the difference that matters for long shifts. A 13 hour shift earns overtime on the 13th hour in Colorado even if the week stays under 40 hours, which is not true under federal law alone.

Colorado also runs a paid family and medical leave program, called FAMLI, which provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave, funded by a small payroll premium shared by employers and employees. The calculator shows income tax and FICA only, so your check may carry a small FAMLI line that this page does not model. The same is true of the Denver occupational privilege tax. Both are small flat items, not percentages of income, so they do not change the income tax math.

5 mistakes that shrink a Colorado paycheck

These are the five errors the Colorado paycheck calculator cannot fix for you, so check them yourself before you blame the math.

  1. Applying 4.4% to your whole salary. Colorado taxes your federal taxable income, not your gross pay. Always subtract your 401k, your pre tax deductions, and the federal standard deduction first.
  2. Forgetting that a bigger 401k lowers both taxes at once. Every extra 401k dollar cuts your federal tax and your Colorado tax together, because Colorado starts from the federal number.
  3. Using the state minimum wage in Denver, Boulder, or Edgewater. All three set higher local rates, and Denver’s $19.29 is more than $4 above the state floor.
  4. Missing daily overtime. Colorado pays overtime after 12 hours in a day, not just after 40 hours in a week. A long shift without a daily overtime check can cost you real money.
  5. Skipping the return in a TABOR refund year. You must file a Colorado return to receive any refund you are owed, even if your withholding already covered your tax.

Related Calculators

Bookmark the Colorado paycheck calculator and come back whenever your pay changes. A raise, a new job, or a bigger 401k contribution all change the answer, and the flat rate makes the new math easy to check in seconds.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Colorado income tax rate for 2026?

Colorado charges a flat 4.4% on taxable income in 2026. The rate is the same for every filer and every income level. A temporary cut to 4.25% applied in 2024 only, and the rate returned to 4.4% in 2025.

How much Colorado income tax will I pay on $80,000?

A single filer earning $80,000 pays $2,811.60 in Colorado tax. Subtract the $16,100 federal standard deduction to get $63,900 of federal taxable income, which is also your Colorado taxable income, then apply 4.4%. Your federal tax, Social Security, and Medicare are separate lines on top of that.

Does Colorado have a standard deduction of its own?

No. Colorado starts from your federal taxable income, so the federal standard deduction does the work. If you itemize federally, your federal taxable income already reflects that choice, and Colorado follows it.

Does Colorado have a local income tax?

No. No Colorado city or county charges an income tax on your wages. Denver charges a small flat occupational privilege tax, which is a fixed monthly amount, not a percentage of your income.

What is TABOR and will I get a refund?

The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights caps state revenue growth at inflation plus population growth, and any surplus above the cap must be returned to taxpayers. The refund has arrived as a lower tax rate, a direct check, or a tax credit in different years. Whether a refund happens in a given year depends on state revenue, so it is not guaranteed. You must file a Colorado return to receive any refund you are owed.

Does Colorado tax Social Security benefits?

It depends on your age. Federally taxed Social Security benefits are exempt for retirees aged 65 and older. Younger retirees face different rules, and Colorado also allows a pension and annuity subtraction with caps published each year in the Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide. Check the guide for your exact age band.

What is the minimum wage in Colorado?

The minimum wage is $15.16 an hour in 2026, set by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Tipped workers can be paid $12.14 an hour in cash wages as long as tips bring them to at least $15.16. Denver sets $19.29 an hour, Edgewater sets $18.17, and Boulder sets $16.82.

Does Colorado pay daily overtime?

Yes. Overtime is due at one and a half times the regular rate after 40 hours in a week, after 12 hours in a day, or after 12 consecutive hours, whichever gives the worker more pay. That daily trigger is stronger than federal law, which only requires weekly overtime.

Do I have to file a Colorado return if I work here but live in another state?

Yes, if you are a nonresident or part year resident with Colorado source income. Your tax is apportioned to the share of your income that comes from Colorado. Nonresidents and part year residents file Form DR 0104PN.

Does Colorado tax my 401k contributions?

Your 401k contributions lower your federal taxable income, and Colorado starts from federal taxable income, so your 401k contributions lower your Colorado tax too. The same is true for pre tax health insurance premiums paid through your employer.

How do I change my Colorado withholding?

Complete Form DR 0004, the Colorado Employee Withholding Certificate, and give it to your employer. If you never file one, your employer withholds based on the default assumptions on the form, and your checks may come in larger or smaller than your actual tax.

When is the Colorado tax return due?

April 15. A federal extension also extends your Colorado filing deadline, but tax owed is still due by April 15. The return is filed on Form DR 0104 with the Colorado Department of Revenue.

Disclaimer

This calculator gives an estimate based on the 2026 Colorado flat rate of 4.4% on federal taxable income, 2026 federal brackets, and the 2026 Social Security wage base. Your real paycheck depends on your withholding certificate, your Colorado additions and subtractions, and small payroll items this calculator does not model, such as the FAMLI premium and the Denver occupational privilege tax. This page is general information, not tax advice. Check the Colorado Department of Revenue for your exact situation.

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