Colorado Paycheck Calculator 2026

How this calculator works

Colorado has no tax brackets to climb. The Department of Revenue’s withholding worksheet takes your annual wages, subtracts one allowance, and multiplies the rest by 4.4%. The allowance is $11,000 for a married couple filing jointly and $5,500 for everyone else, head of household included. Colorado also runs its own family and medical leave insurance program, FAMLI, whose premium employers and employees may split. Even with FAMLI, the state layer is simpler than New Mexico’s six rates, though not as plain as Wyoming’s, which takes no income tax at all.

The calculator applies five deductions, in this order:

• Federal income tax. Your gross pay minus the federal standard deduction for your filing status, run through the 2026 federal brackets.
• Social Security at 6.2% of gross wages, up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500.
• Medicare at 1.45% of all wages, with no cap, plus the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000.
• Colorado income tax: your wages minus the $5,500 allowance ($11,000 if married filing jointly), times 4.4%.
• Colorado FAMLI: 0.44% of your gross wages up to $184,500.

Rates come from the agencies that set them: the IRS for the federal brackets, the standard deduction and FICA, cross-checked against the Social Security Administration for the wage base; and for the state layer, the Colorado Department of Revenue’s 2026 Withholding Worksheet for Employers (form DR 1098) and the FAMLI Division’s employer page. The state’s websites block automated requests, so we read those documents from Internet Archive snapshots, linked in the sources below. Our full sourcing is on the methodology page.

Withholding is an estimate, not your final bill. The figure here is what an employer following the state’s worksheet takes from each check. Colorado income tax itself is calculated on your return, starting from your federal taxable income, so what you owe or get back when you file can differ, and the state says the default method generally ends in a refund (see the key facts below).

What the calculator deliberately does not do: it does not add city head taxes, and it does not model Married Filing Separately, multiple jobs, bonuses and other supplemental wages, a DR 0004 certificate, or health insurance premiums and other employer benefit deductions.

The Colorado withholding formula, by filing status

Colorado’s formula is one line long, so the table below is short. The employer annualizes your pay, subtracts the allowance that goes with your filing status on the federal W-4, and applies 4.4% to what is left. Nothing is withheld on wages up to the allowance.

Colorado hourly paycheck: what your rate is worth after tax

Why we ask your hours instead of assuming 2,080

Many hourly calculators multiply your rate by 2,080 and call it a year. That is 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, which describes a full-time schedule, not every hourly job. If you work 32 hours a week, or 45 with overtime, the assumed figure is wrong before any tax is applied. The calculator above asks for your hours and uses them.

What is $20 an hour after taxes in Colorado?

At 40 hours a week, $20 an hour is $41,600 a year gross. After federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, Colorado income tax and FAMLI, that leaves about $33,834 a year, or $2,819.51 a month. Your real hourly rate — what an hour of work actually puts in your bank account — is $16.27. Colorado’s share is $1,588.40 of income tax and $183.04 of FAMLI for the year.

What are $25 and $30 an hour after taxes in Colorado?

$25 an hour is $52,000 gross and about $41,687 after tax, a real rate of $20.04. $30 an hour is $62,400 gross and about $49,540 after tax, a real rate of $23.82. The state takes $2,274.80 a year in income tax and FAMLI at $25 an hour, and $2,778.16 at $30.

Overtime

The state’s worksheet asks for the employee’s “total taxable wages this payroll period (including overtime pay),” and the Wage Withholding Tax Guide says Colorado withholding generally includes overtime compensation that may be exempted from federal withholding under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The calculator multiplies your rate by the hours you enter and adds no overtime premium. It does not model any federal overtime deduction, so on an overtime-heavy paycheck the federal line can differ from what you see. If you work variable hours, enter the average you expect for the year.

A city head tax on an hourly wage

If you work in Denver and earn at least $500 in a month, the city’s tax guide (revised 1/2021) lists $5.75 a month withheld from your pay, or $69.00 a year. Spread over 2,080 hours that is about 3 cents an hour. It is a fixed amount, not a percentage, so it weighs more on a part-time paycheck than on a large salary. The calculator leaves it out.

Colorado take-home pay by hourly rate

Single filer, 40 hours a week (2,080 hours a year), 2026 rates.

What this calculator does not cover

This tool models federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and the payroll programs your state actually runs — nothing more. It deliberately leaves out:

• Itemized deductions and federal tax credits — the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, education credits. The engine always applies the standard deduction; there is no itemizing path.
• A second job, self-employment income or 1099 pay. Every dollar you enter is treated as one employer’s W-2 wages, taxed at the employee share of Social Security and Medicare — not the self-employment tax a 1099 worker actually owes.
• Pre-tax benefits other than the 401(k) field — health insurance premiums, an HSA or FSA, commuter benefits. The only amount taken out before tax is the percentage you enter for a 401(k).
• Local taxes — city income tax, county tax, or a school-district tax. Where a state levies one, our methodology page says so by name; this calculator does not add that line, with two exceptions: the Indiana and Maryland calculators add the local income tax for the county you choose.
• Overtime premiums. An hourly rate is multiplied by the hours you enter; it does not add a time-and-a-half rate for hours worked past 40 in a week.
• Wage garnishments or court-ordered deductions — child support, a wage levy. Your result assumes none exist.
• The Additional Medicare Tax, at the single-filer threshold. The 0.9% surtax above $200,000 is applied at that one figure for every filing status, the way an employer actually withholds it — not the higher threshold a married couple filing jointly may end up owing at tax return time.
• Married filing separately, or a qualifying surviving spouse. The calculator only offers single, married filing jointly, and head of household.

None of these are in the estimate. Some of them change what you owe or get back when you file, and a calculator cannot ask for everything they depend on. See why your pay stub will differ for the details.

Key facts that affect your take-home pay in Colorado

One rate, and an allowance that depends on your filing status

The worksheet’s line 2a gives $11,000 “if married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse,” or $5,500 “otherwise.” Line 2c then multiplies by 4.40%. On the same $75,000, Colorado withholds $3,058.00 from a single filer, $3,058.00 from a head of household and $2,816.00 from a married couple filing jointly. If an employee gives no W-4 at all, the worksheet says to treat the filing status as single.

The default withholding usually ends in a refund

Colorado taxes “modified federal taxable income,” so the tax on your return starts from a figure that already has the federal standard deduction taken out: $16,100 for a single filer in 2026. The withholding formula subtracts only $5,500. The gap is $10,600, and at 4.4% that is $466.40. On these assumptions — standard deduction, no Colorado additions, subtractions or credits — a single filer on $75,000 has $3,058.00 withheld against about $2,591.60 of tax when they file. That is our arithmetic, and it assumes a 4.4% rate on your 2026 return. The state says the same thing in words: the method based on your W-4 “will generally result in a refund when you file your Colorado income tax return.” Its own optional form suggests a smaller cushion: the $14,000 allowance in Table 1 would cut withholding by $374.00, not $466.40, and we have not found the state’s reason for the difference.

Your federal W-4 will not shrink the Colorado number

The worksheet’s fifth rule tells employers not to adjust Colorado withholding outside of its calculation, and says an employee must use form DR 0004 to account for federal deductions. (An employee who claims exemption from withholding on the W-4 is handled separately, and the Department can adjust that claim.) The form is optional. For one job, its Table 1 allows $14,000 for a single filer, $22,000 for head of household and $30,000 for married filing jointly. Entering $14,000 instead of $5,500 would cut a single filer’s withholding by $374.00 a year, or $31.17 a month. The department says completing it “will likely increase your take-home pay” for most taxpayers, and warns that if too little is withheld you may owe tax and a penalty. This calculator uses the default, not a DR 0004.

Colorado’s rate is set year by year

The Department of Revenue’s Individual Income Tax Guide says “the Colorado income tax rate varies by tax year” and prints a table: 4.4% for 2022 and 2023, 4.25% for 2024, and 4.4% for 2025. The table stops at 2025, so the 4.40% we use for 2026 comes from the withholding worksheet, which is the document that governs what an employer takes from a paycheck.

FAMLI takes 0.44% of your pay, up to $184,500

The FAMLI Division’s employer page, as archived in January 2026, puts the premium at 0.88% of wages, “with 0.44% paid by the employer and 0.44% paid by the employee,” on wages up to the Federal Social Security Wage Cap, which the Social Security Administration sets at $184,500 for 2026. The employee’s most is therefore $811.80 a year. The page adds that employees are “never required to pay more than 50% of the total premium,” that some employers may choose not to deduct any of it, and that the division reviews the rate every year. Premiums are calculated on gross wages, and the page says they are post-tax deductions that do not reduce an employee’s taxable income, so they do not lower your federal or Colorado income tax. This calculator assumes your employer deducts the employee half.

FAMLI stops at $184,500, so its share shrinks on high pay

On $75,000 the deduction is $330.00. On $250,000 it is capped at $811.80, which is only 0.32% of gross pay. The same percentage applies from the first dollar, so a low earner pays 0.44% of every dollar while a high earner’s share shrinks once pay passes the cap.

Some Colorado cities take a fixed monthly head tax

Denver’s Tax Guide Topic 61, revised 1/2021, says the Employee Occupational Privilege Tax (OPT) is withheld by the employer “at a rate of $5.75 per month” for workers who earn at least $500 in a calendar month in Denver. Greenwood Village’s page lists $2 per month, for pay of $250 or more in a month. Aurora is the notable absence: its page says the city’s occupational privilege tax “will be repealed effective Jan. 1, 2025,” and that the last returns are for 2024. We have read only these three cities’ pages, we cannot say what others charge, and the calculator does not model any of them: each is a fixed dollar amount per month, not a rate. Check the current figure with your employer or the city.

Colorado’s unemployment page lists premiums only for employers

The Department of Labor and Employment says employers “must pay annual premiums on the chargeable wages for each of their employees,” and sets the 2026 chargeable wage base at $30,600. We found no employee deduction for unemployment insurance, and the calculator takes none. The contrast with FAMLI is the point: the state’s page lists no employee share of the unemployment premium, while employees may pay half of the leave premium.

You do not have to live in Colorado

The Wage Withholding Tax Guide says that in general an employer must withhold Colorado income tax from an employee who is a Colorado resident, and from a nonresident for services performed in Colorado. The guide lists exemptions, so check it for your case. A Wyoming or Nebraska resident who works a shift in Denver should generally expect the state line on the pay stub. This calculator shows the Colorado withholding; it does not model what your home state does on your return.

Your 401(k) contribution and the state tax

The calculator takes your 401(k) contribution out before it applies the Colorado formula, the same order it uses for federal tax. The state’s guide does not address retirement contributions, so this is a modeling choice, not a quotation. On $75,000 with 6% going in, Colorado income tax falls by $198.00 a year. FAMLI is applied to gross pay, so it does not change.

Social Security stops, Medicare does not

Social Security is withheld at 6.2% until your wages reach $184,500 in 2026, then stops for the rest of the year. Medicare has no ceiling at all: 1.45% on every dollar, plus an extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000. FAMLI stops at the same wage cap, so for a high earner both deductions disappear from the same paycheck and take-home pay visibly jumps.

Common mistakes people make

Applying 4.4% to your whole paycheck

The rate applies to wages after the allowance, not to every dollar. On $75,000 Colorado’s effective income tax rate is 4.08%, and on $250,000 it is 4.30%. The allowance matters less as pay grows, but it never stops mattering.

Reading the FAMLI line as income tax

FAMLI is an insurance premium with its own rate and its own ceiling, and it does not depend on your filing status. On $75,000 it is $330, about 11% of the $3,058 of income tax.

Claiming more on the W-4 to lower Colorado withholding

Claiming extra allowances or other adjustments on your federal W-4 will not lower it; only your filing status carries over. The state’s worksheet starts from the filing status on your W-4, and the form the state provides for adjusting it is the DR 0004.

Reading withholding as the tax you owe

A Colorado refund is a typical result of the default formula, not a sign the worksheet was applied wrongly. Withholding is settled against your actual liability when you file.

Assuming every Colorado worker pays a city head tax

Only some cities charge one, the amounts differ, and Aurora’s page says its tax was to end on January 1, 2025. Look at your own pay stub for a line naming your city before you subtract anything.

Expecting the calculator to match the pay stub to the dollar

It will not, and no calculator can. Health insurance premiums and other pre-tax benefit deductions come out before tax and are not modeled here, a second job changes the federal withholding picture, and your employer may be using a DR 0004 you filled out. Read why your pay stub will differ for the rest.

Example calculation

A single filer earning $75,000 in Colorado in 2026, with no retirement contribution:

• Federal taxable income: $75,000 − federal standard deduction of $16,100 = $58,900
• Federal income tax: $7,670.00
• Social Security: $75,000 × 6.2% = $4,650.00
• Medicare: $75,000 × 1.45% = $1,087.50
• Colorado wages after the allowance: $75,000 − $5,500 = $69,500
• Colorado income tax: $69,500 × 4.4% = $3,058.00 a year, which is $254.83 on a monthly paycheck or $117.62 on a biweekly one
• Colorado FAMLI: $75,000 × 0.44% = $330.00
• Total withheld: $16,795.50
• Take-home pay: $58,204.50 a year, or $4,850.38 a month
• Effective tax rate: 22.4%

Frequently asked questions

Compare with other states

The same $75,000 salary, single filer, 2026 rates, against four of Colorado’s neighbors that we publish. Oklahoma, which also borders Colorado, has its own calculator here. Arizona, at the Four Corners, has one too. Kansas is not on this site yet.

Wyoming withholds nothing at state level, so a Wyoming worker keeps $3,388.00 more than a Coloradan on the same salary. Nebraska leaves $855.04 more and New Mexico $649.45 more. Utah is almost level with Colorado, $50.50 ahead. Colorado is the only one of the five that takes a family and medical leave premium from the employee’s pay, $330.00 on this salary, part of its total of $3,388.00 in state-level deductions.

Sources

Every figure on this page is read from an official document and dated, not taken from another calculator — the federal ones from the IRS and the Social Security Administration, the Colorado ones from the state’s own documents below. Each one carries the date we last checked that it still answers. If one of our numbers disagrees with one of theirs, they are right and we have a defect to fix — tell us.

The documents these figures are read from

• Colorado Department of Revenue — DR 1098, 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (PDF, Internet Archive snapshot of August 23, 2026) — the withholding method itself: annual wages minus $5,500 ($11,000 if married filing jointly), times 4.40%; the department’s own site refuses automated requests, so we link the archived copy.
• Colorado Department of Revenue — DR 0004, 2026 Colorado Employee Withholding Certificate (PDF, Internet Archive snapshot of February 8, 2026) — the statement that withholding based on the federal W-4 will generally result in a refund, and the optional allowances of $14,000, $22,000 and $30,000; archived copy, for the same reason.
• Colorado Department of Revenue — Individual Income Tax Guide (Internet Archive snapshot of April 26, 2026) — that Colorado taxes modified federal taxable income, and the rate by tax year (4.25% for 2024, 4.4% for 2025); archived copy, for the same reason.
• Colorado Department of Revenue — Colorado Wage Withholding Tax Guide, revised January 2026 (PDF, Internet Archive snapshot of February 28, 2026) — that overtime compensation is generally subject to Colorado withholding, and that the DR 1098 worksheet prescribes the calculation; archived copy, for the same reason.
• Colorado FAMLI Division — Employers (Internet Archive snapshot of January 18, 2026) — the 0.88% premium split 0.44% employer and 0.44% employee, on wages up to the Social Security wage cap; archived copy, because the live page refuses automated requests.
• Colorado Department of Labor and Employment — Unemployment Insurance Premium Rates (Internet Archive snapshot of December 5, 2025) — the statement that employers pay unemployment premiums, and the $30,600 chargeable wage base for 2026; archived copy, because the live page refuses automated requests.
• City and County of Denver — Tax Guide Topic No. 61, Occupational Privilege Taxes (PDF, revised 1/2021) — the Employee OPT of $5.75 per month, withheld by the employer, for workers who earn at least $500 for a calendar month in Denver.
• Greenwood Village — Occupational Privilege Tax (OPT) — the $2 per month employee portion, which applies when $250 or more is earned in a calendar month.
• City of Aurora — Occupational Privilege Tax — the city’s notice that its occupational privilege tax will be repealed effective January 1, 2025, with the last returns covering 2024.
• IRS — 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) — the federal brackets and the $16,100 standard deduction.
• IRS — Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates — the 6.2% and 1.45% rates and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.
• SSA — Contribution and benefit base — the $184,500 Social Security wage base.

All links checked September 30, 2026.

Related reading

• Paycheck calculators by state — the full index, including which states have no income tax at all.
• Utah paycheck calculator — a neighboring flat-rate state, with a credit that fades out instead of an allowance.
• Methodology — the exact formula, every 2026 figure with its official source, and what these calculators deliberately do not model.
• Why your pay stub will differ — pre-tax deductions, credits and W-4 settings, and how much difference is normal.