Highest Paying Jobs in Colorado

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$416,000

Orthodontists

Top 25 Average

$261,096

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

100

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Colorado by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Orthodontists pays a state median of $416,000, +44% above the national median of $289,140 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 100 pay above $100,000 per year in Colorado - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $346,187, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 81 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Colorado, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news, they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where Colorado is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime, especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in Colorado, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Employment
1	Orthodontists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$416,000	$289,140	+44% above	160
2	Dermatologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$398,810	$328,730	+21% above	260
3	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$385,410	$358,550	+7% above	410
4	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$360,820	$352,220	+2% above	N/A
5	Neurologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$356,250	$248,560	+43% above	120
6	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$344,270	$420,860	18% below	500
7	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$307,490	$232,140	+32% above	5,830
8	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$299,990	$256,560	+17% above	450
9	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$298,320	$265,930	+12% above	1,990
10	Physicians, Pathologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$294,510	$312,400	6% below	50
11	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$288,050	$300,080	4% below	100
12	Psychiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$266,370	$281,870	5% below	270
13	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$265,560	$244,180	+9% above	2,700
14	Chief Executives Management Occupations	$213,370	$213,990	same as	N/A
15	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$199,420	$175,140	+14% above	11,510
16	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates Legal Occupations	$198,790	$153,990	+29% above	620
17	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$196,440	$210,040	6% below	570
18	Dentists, All Other Specialists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$186,640	$224,990	17% below	70
19	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$183,810	$171,270	+7% above	4,900
20	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$182,730	$166,790	+10% above	6,010
21	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$182,690	$166,570	+10% above	10,640
22	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$180,850	$148,270	+22% above	8,780
23	Air Traffic Controllers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$177,380	$148,080	+20% above	740
24	Petroleum Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$172,190	$144,910	+19% above	1,390
25	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$171,250	$148,080	+16% above	1,320
26	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$171,140	$141,900	+21% above	14,060
27	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$168,520	$159,670	+6% above	16,720
28	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$166,400	$149,280	+11% above	3,620
29	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$166,240	$170,950	3% below	2,940
30	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$165,770	$149,230	+11% above	280
31	Advertising and Promotions Managers Management Occupations	$164,990	$133,660	+23% above	180
32	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$162,870	$146,910	+11% above	N/A
33	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$157,000	$114,130	+38% above	2,340
34	Aerospace Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$156,190	$134,960	+16% above	4,070
35	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$156,080	$161,740	3% below	2,660
36	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$156,030	$140,910	+11% above	4,560
37	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$154,560	$139,500	+11% above	1,950
38	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$152,730	$167,220	9% below	1,640
39	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$152,000	$136,570	+11% above	880
40	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$142,620	$160,300	11% below	150
41	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$141,020	$126,060	+12% above	1,730
42	Sales Engineers Sales and Related Occupations	$139,990	$124,900	+12% above	2,800
43	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$139,980	$133,000	+5% above	850
44	Commercial Pilots Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$139,680	$123,220	+13% above	1,240
45	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$139,580	$116,580	+20% above	11,800
46	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$139,230	$134,050	+4% above	16,380
47	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$138,390	$135,980	+2% above	43,320
48	Nurse Midwives Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$137,610	$134,040	+3% above	180
49	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$136,930	$107,310	+28% above	7,800
50	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$135,220	$129,180	+5% above	5,700
51	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales and Related Occupations	$135,000	$104,920	+29% above	4,150
52	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$134,910	$123,860	+9% above	8,400
53	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,540	$135,880	1% below	3,270
54	Physical Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$134,440	$122,570	+10% above	710
55	Computer and Information Research Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$133,160	$140,300	5% below	400
56	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$132,930	$132,300	same as	4,270
57	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$132,610	$107,230	+24% above	2,310
58	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$132,590	$122,930	+8% above	2,540
59	General and Operations Managers Management Occupations	$131,840	$105,770	+25% above	41,870
60	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$130,840	$130,100	+1% above	2,340
61	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$130,010	$125,470	+4% above	600
62	Operations Research Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$129,880	$88,940	+46% above	770
63	Emergency Management Directors Management Occupations	$129,660	$93,330	+39% above	N/A
64	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$127,750	$105,850	+21% above	6,230
65	Political Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$127,260	$142,080	10% below	30
66	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$127,010	$130,220	2% below	6,080
67	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives Protective Service Occupations	$126,810	$106,040	+20% above	2,790
68	Chemical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$125,800	$125,040	+1% above	720
69	Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$125,560	$103,020	+22% above	210
70	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$124,830	$114,990	+9% above	12,550
71	School Psychologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$124,770	$95,990	+30% above	1,380
72	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$124,430	$104,110	+20% above	7,190
73	Materials Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$124,030	$112,860	+10% above	810
74	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$123,690	$104,300	+19% above	5,110
75	Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers Construction and Extraction Occupations	$123,360	$109,910	+12% above	530
76	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$122,510	$106,660	+15% above	2,150
77	Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$122,050	$76,590	+59% above	370
78	Economists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$121,410	$124,720	3% below	240
79	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers Legal Occupations	$121,410	$117,860	+3% above	220
80	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$120,950	$115,160	+5% above	210
81	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$120,760	$120,630	same as	4,200
82	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$120,660	$110,840	+9% above	380
83	Actuaries Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$120,440	$130,000	7% below	500
84	Financial Risk Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$120,300	$117,330	+3% above	1,050
85	Education Administrators, Postsecondary Management Occupations	$118,440	$104,590	+13% above	1,770
86	Database Administrators Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$118,340	$104,620	+13% above	1,220
87	Data Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$117,400	$120,230	2% below	6,280
88	Materials Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$117,290	$117,790	same as	370
89	Nuclear Medicine Technologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$116,990	$101,370	+15% above	200
90	Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$114,410	$101,920	+12% above	1,480
91	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$113,290	$100,580	+13% above	1,170
92	Speech-Language Pathologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$110,750	$97,870	+13% above	4,420
93	Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$110,650	$109,370	+1% above	N/A
94	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$110,530	$105,870	+4% above	5,760
95	First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers Sales and Related Occupations	$110,450	$87,520	+26% above	8,230
96	Project Management Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$110,050	$102,320	+8% above	32,390
97	Industrial Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$109,750	$102,440	+7% above	5,200
98	Statisticians Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$109,660	$105,650	+4% above	780
99	Dental Hygienists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$109,580	$98,100	+12% above	4,270
100	Diagnostic Medical Sonographers Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$108,410	$96,590	+12% above	1,430

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Orthodontists

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About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in Colorado. The "Difference" column shows how Colorado pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Every figure on WageDex is rendered directly from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, no number is typed in by an editor. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS state-level wage data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.

Compiled by WageDex Editorial, Occupational Wages Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

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