Boulder, CO Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Boulder, CO - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Boulder, CO moved from $67,510 in May 2024 to $69,580 in May 2025 (+3.1%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Boulder, CO sits -0.0 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
General and Operations Managers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Boulder, CO
General and Operations Managers publishes $152,100 here versus $105,770 nationally (+43.8%; 2,750metro-area jobs). Next is Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel at $99,990 locally versus $69,990 nationally (+42.9%).
- General and Operations Managers$152,100 in Boulder, CO sits 43.8% above the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (2,750 published local jobs).
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel$99,990 in Boulder, CO sits 42.9% above the national Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel median of $69,990 (3,230 published local jobs).
- Waiters and Waitresses$49,870 in Boulder, CO sits 41.6% above the national Waiters and Waitresses median of $35,230 (2,670 published local jobs).
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists$97,600 in Boulder, CO sits 23.9% above the national Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists median of $78,760 (3,130 published local jobs).
General and Operations Managers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Boulder, CO; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 14500 · Boulder, CO $88K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-ELEV · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #5/528
- RPP-ELEV 105.2
- OCC-MOST 412 occs
- TOP-LEAD Surgeons, All… · $466K
- EMP-MIX Software Dev…
- TREND-INLINE -0.0 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Boston-Cambridge…
- BOOK-FULL 399 rows · May 2025
Read with Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH ($215 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Boulder, CO
Employment scale inside Boulder, CO's top-pay list
Software Developers and Computer Network Architects lead published employment inside Boulder, CO's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Software Developers 7,130 jobs · $164,560
- 2. Computer Network Architects 2,000 jobs · $156,360
- 3. Computer and Information Systems Managers 1,220 jobs · $206,260
- 4. Managers, All Other 1,020 jobs · $179,090
- 5. Aerospace Engineers 800 jobs · $167,160
- 6. Sales Managers 740 jobs · $200,970
- 7. Financial Managers 700 jobs · $192,970
- 8. Architectural and Engineering Managers 680 jobs · $203,420
- 9. Computer Hardware Engineers 650 jobs · $161,720
- 10. Marketing Managers 630 jobs · $199,570
- 11. Natural Sciences Managers 310 jobs · $210,340
- 12. Human Resources Managers 260 jobs · $169,000
- 13. Pharmacists 250 jobs · $164,240
- 14. Family Medicine Physicians 230 jobs · $297,070
- 15. Industrial Production Managers 230 jobs · $162,040
- 16. Dentists, General 140 jobs · $180,440
- 17. Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric 130 jobs · $211,600
- 18. Physicians, All Other 110 jobs · $453,460
Occupations Tracked
412
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$88,422
employment-weighted, 399 complete rows
Top Salary
$465,940
Surgeons, All Other
Cost of Living
105.2
5% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Boulder, CO
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surgeons, All Other | $465,940 |
| 2 | Physicians, All Other | $453,460 |
| 3 | Family Medicine Physicians | $297,070 |
| 4 | Chief Executives | $216,400 |
| 5 | Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric | $211,600 |
| 6 | Natural Sciences Managers | $210,340 |
| 7 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $206,260 |
| 8 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $203,420 |
| 9 | Sales Managers | $200,970 |
| 10 | Marketing Managers | $199,570 |
| 11 | Financial Managers | $192,970 |
| 12 | Dentists, General | $180,440 |
| 13 | Managers, All Other | $179,090 |
| 14 | Training and Development Managers | $172,640 |
| 15 | Computer and Information Research Scientists | $169,400 |
| 16 | Human Resources Managers | $169,000 |
| 17 | Aerospace Engineers | $167,160 |
| 18 | Commercial Pilots | $165,780 |
| 19 | Software Developers | $164,560 |
| 20 | Pharmacists | $164,240 |
| 21 | Industrial Production Managers | $162,040 |
| 22 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $161,720 |
| 23 | Purchasing Managers | $160,290 |
| 24 | Computer Network Architects | $156,360 |
| 25 | Computer Programmers | $155,030 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Boulder, CO
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary | $30,800 |
| Grounds Maintenance Workers, All Other | $31,490 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $35,500 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $36,190 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $36,250 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $37,140 |
| Physical Therapist Aides | $37,440 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $37,460 |
| Animal Caretakers | $37,720 |
| Dishwashers | $37,750 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in CO
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside CO. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($88,422 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Related federal data
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.