Colorado Paystub Generator

Reading a Colorado pay stub, line by line

A Colorado pay stub has one flat state tax, one paid-leave premium, and — in Denver and three other cities — a flat monthly "head tax" that has nothing to do with how much you earn. Here is what each line means in 2026:

CO State Income Tax ("CO SIT", "Colorado Withholding"). Colorado taxes income at a flat 4.40% — and unusually, it starts from your federal taxable income, so the federal $16,100 standard deduction is the only deduction; there is no Colorado standard deduction or personal exemption. Withholding (DR 1098) is just as simple: annual wages minus a $5,500 allowance (2026; $11,000 married filing jointly), times 4.4%. Filing the optional Form DR 0004 replaces that allowance with a larger one ($14,000 for a single filer with one job), which brings the stub much closer to the real liability — without it a $60,000 earner has about $466 more withheld than owed. Colorado also has a TABOR mechanism that temporarily cut the rate to 4.25% for 2024 when the state ran a big surplus; 2025 stayed at 4.40%, and withholding is always at 4.40% regardless — any cut comes back as a refund.

CO FAMLI (Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance; labels: "CO FAMLI", "CO PFML", "FAMLI EE"). The 2026 premium is 0.88% of gross wages, split evenly: 0.44% from you, 0.44% from the employer — on wages up to the $184,500 Social Security cap (maximum $811.80 a year). Employers with fewer than 10 employees pay no employer share but still withhold yours. The FAMLI Division Director resets the rate every year and the statute caps the total premium at 1.2%, so the number on your stub can move; you are never required to pay more than half of it.

Occupational Privilege Tax ("Denver OPT", "Head Tax", "Occ Priv"). Colorado has no city or county income tax, but four home-rule cities charge a flat monthly tax on people who work there: Denver $5.75 a month (once you earn $500 in the city in a month — $69 a year whether you make $25,000 or $250,000), Glendale $5, Sheridan $3, Greenwood Village $2. The employer pays a matching business OPT you never see. Aurora repealed its $2 head tax on January 1, 2025 — a stub still deducting it is wrong.

What you will NOT see: an unemployment deduction (Colorado UI is employer-only; the 2026 wage base is $30,600), state disability insurance (none — FAMLI covers medical leave), or a percentage-based local tax. The employer's half of FAMLI and its OPT are employer-side lines.

Plus the federal lines on every US stub: federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500 in 2026), and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% on wages over $200,000).

Colorado paycheck facts — 2026

What you actually take home in Colorado (2026 estimates)

Estimated for a single filer taking the standard deduction, including federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Colorado's 4.4% on federal taxable income, and the employee half of FAMLI — before any city head tax:

Where the money goes at $60,000: Colorado income tax $1,932 (3.2% of gross) plus FAMLI $264 — about $2,196, or 3.7%. Denver workers subtract another $69 for the OPT. Federal income tax and FICA take the other 16%.

Your stub withholds more than this table. With no DR 0004 on file, the $5,500 allowance means about $2,398 of Colorado tax is withheld at $60,000 — roughly $466 above the $1,932 you owe. Filing DR 0004 with the $14,000 single/one-job allowance narrows the gap to about $92.

Methodology: 2026 federal brackets and $16,100 standard deduction (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32), FICA per SSA, Colorado flat 4.40% on federal taxable income (C.R.S. 39-22-104; DR 1098 2026), FAMLI employee premium 0.44% to $184,500 (famli.colorado.gov). The TY2026 TABOR rate determination (September 2026 forecast) is not reflected. Estimates only — your withholding depends on your W-4/DR 0004, credits, and pre-tax benefits.

What Colorado jobs pay (BLS, May 2025)

Colorado's median hourly wage across all occupations is $28.75 — 17% above the national median of $24.51 and a touch above Maryland and New Jersey. Denver's $19.29 minimum shows at the bottom of the table: retail salespersons ($18.25 statewide) and waiters ($21.57 with tips) earn well above their Texas counterparts.

Colorado's workforce in numbers

• 6.0 million residents, civilian labor force of 3.2 million, unemployment 3.9% (Census 2025 estimate; BLS, July 2026 preliminary)
• 607,592 self-employed (nonemployer) businesses (Census, 2023) — about one for every 10 residents; the self-employed can opt in to FAMLI
• 2.6 million people on employer payrolls at 182,486 establishments, earning $181 billion a year (Census County Business Patterns, 2023)
• Mean annual wage: $77,190 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)

Colorado pay rules — the answers people actually need

Final paycheck: fired means paid immediately. Under the Colorado Wage Act (C.R.S. 8-4-109), wages are "due and payable immediately" when the employer ends the relationship — if the payroll office isn't running, within six hours of the start of its next workday, or 24 hours if payroll is handled off-site. If you quit, final pay is due on the next regular payday. After a written demand the employer has 14 days before statutory penalties stack on top of the wages owed. Unclaimed checks must be mailed after 60 days.

Pay frequency: at least monthly, on regular paydays no later than 10 days after the pay period ends, unless you and the employer agree otherwise in writing (C.R.S. 8-4-103(1)).

Is a pay stub required? Yes. C.R.S. 8-4-103(4) requires an itemized written pay statement at least monthly (or each payday) showing gross wages, every withholding and deduction, net wages, the inclusive dates of the pay period, the employee's name or SSN, and the employer's name and address. Records must be kept three years; the fine is up to $250 per employee per month. Hours and rate aren't on the statutory stub list, but the COMPS Order requires the employer to keep them.

Overtime exemption has its own floor. The 2026 PAY CALC Order sets the executive/administrative/professional salary threshold at $1,111.23 a week ($57,784 a year) — well above the federal level. Salaried workers paid less than that are not exempt, and are owed overtime under Colorado's COMPS Order.

City minimum wages above the state floor (2026)

Colorado's minimum wage rises with inflation every January 1 under the state constitution — $15.16 for 2026 (tipped $12.14, a $3.02 credit). Since 2019, local governments may set higher rates, and four have:

A full-time Denver minimum-wage job grosses $40,123 — $8,590 more than the same job in Colorado Springs at the state rate — and the Denver worker also pays the $69-a-year OPT. Edgewater was the first city to use the 2025 law (HB25-1208) allowing a larger local tip credit.

How Colorado compares with its neighbors (take-home on $60,000, 2026 est.)

Colorado's single-rate tax on federal taxable income lands it in the middle of the Mountain West: a $60,000 earner keeps about $1,100 less than in Arizona and $2,200 less than in Wyoming, but slightly more than in Utah once FAMLI is counted. Colorado has no reciprocal agreements — residents working across a state line are withheld for the work state and claim a Colorado credit.

(Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming figures are directional estimates pending those pages' full data workup.)

FAQ