What is Colorado's state income tax rate on wages?

Colorado uses a single flat income tax rate of 4.40% for the 2024 tax year. Unlike states with graduated brackets, every dollar of Colorado taxable income is taxed at the same 4.40%, which makes withholding simple to estimate.

Does Colorado have local income taxes?

Colorado has no broad local income tax, but a few cities (Denver, Aurora, Greenwood Village, Glendale, and Sheridan) charge a small flat Occupational Privilege Tax — usually a few dollars per month for both employee and employer. It is a fixed fee, not a percentage of wages, so it has little effect on take-home pay.

What is the Colorado FAMLI deduction on my paycheck?

FAMLI is Colorado's Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance program. The total premium is 0.9% of wages, split evenly between employer and employee, so most workers see a 0.45% deduction. This calculator includes the 0.45% employee share.

Does a 401(k) contribution lower my Colorado tax?

Yes. Traditional 401(k) contributions are deducted before federal and Colorado income tax is calculated, because Colorado starts from your federal taxable income. They do not, however, reduce Social Security or Medicare (FICA) taxes, which still apply to your full gross wages.

How accurate is this Colorado paycheck estimate?

It applies 2025 federal brackets and the standard deduction, Colorado's flat 4.40% rate, current FICA rates, and the FAMLI employee premium. It does not model health-insurance premiums, HSA contributions, garnishments, or the small city Occupational Privilege Tax, so your actual stub may differ slightly.

Colorado Paycheck Calculator

The Colorado paycheck calculator turns your gross salary into the net amount that actually lands in your bank account after federal income tax, Colorado’s flat state tax, Social Security, Medicare, and the FAMLI premium. Enter your pay once and switch between any pay frequency to see the per-period and annual picture.

How it works

Colorado is a flat-tax state, which makes the math clean. The calculator applies your deductions in the order a real payroll system does:

Pre-tax 401(k) is removed first, lowering the wages subject to income tax.
Federal income tax is computed from 2025 brackets after the federal standard deduction for your filing status.
Colorado state tax is a flat 4.40% applied to your federal taxable income — Colorado has no separate state standard deduction, so the federal one flows through.
FICA is taken on your full gross wages: Social Security at 6.2% up to the annual wage base, plus Medicare at 1.45%.
Colorado FAMLI removes the 0.45% employee paid-leave premium.

What remains is your take-home pay.

Worked example

A single filer in Denver earning a $65,000 salary with no 401(k):

Federal taxable income: $65,000 − $15,000 standard deduction = $50,000
Colorado tax: $50,000 × 4.40% = $2,200
FICA: roughly $4,030 Social Security + $943 Medicare
FAMLI: $65,000 × 0.45% = $293

After federal income tax, the net take-home lands well below the headline salary — and the breakdown table shows exactly where each dollar went.

Notes and tips

Contributing to a traditional 401(k) is the single biggest lever for lowering both your federal and Colorado income tax; the calculator updates instantly as you change the percentage.
The small city Occupational Privilege Tax (Denver and a handful of others) is a fixed monthly fee, not modelled here, and changes net pay only marginally.
This is a planning estimate, not payroll-grade output — confirm withholding against your actual pay stub or the Colorado Department of Revenue at tax.colorado.gov.