Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

Across all occupations in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO metropolitan area, the median wage is $62,320 a year ($29.96 an hour) and the mean $81,690, May 2025. That median is +22% against the US median of $50,980 and +4% against Colorado's $59,800. BLS counts 1,609,350 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is oral and maxillofacial surgeons; the largest is fast food and counter workers.

All occupations: Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO vs Colorado and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO area, Colorado and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	Hourly	$18.02	$21.86	$29.96	$47.80	$71.73	$39.28	1,609,350
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	Annual	$37,490	$45,460	$62,320	$99,420	$149,200	$81,690	1,609,350
Colorado	Hourly	$17.48	$21.00	$28.75	$44.82	$65.54	$37.11	2,873,900
Colorado	Annual	$36,350	$43,680	$59,800	$93,220	$136,330	$77,190	2,873,900
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

646 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Colorado. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons	$360,820	$173.47	**
2	Neurologists	$356,250	$171.27	60
3	Radiologists	$344,270	$165.52	340
4	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	$307,490	*	5,600
5	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$299,990	$144.23	290
6	Physicians, All Other	$298,600	$143.56	1,170
7	Dermatologists	$273,320	$131.41	**
8	Psychiatrists	$263,030	$126.46	150
9	Family Medicine Physicians	$255,590	$122.88	1,080
10	Nurse Anesthetists	$216,700	$104.18	200
11	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Colorado	$203,340	$97.76	7,730
12	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$198,790	$95.57	310
13	Financial Managers in Colorado	$193,400	$92.98	7,490
14	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$191,440	$92.04	2,860
15	Marketing Managers	$182,470	$87.73	4,220
16	Sales Managers in Colorado	$181,580	$87.30	5,930
17	Purchasing Managers	$180,000	$86.54	980
18	Anesthesiologists	$179,190	$86.15	**
19	Lawyers in Colorado	$177,380	$85.28	11,860
20	Managers, All Other in Colorado	$175,980	$84.61	9,250

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Colorado	42,810	26.60	1.07	$37,070
2	Retail Salespersons in Colorado	40,340	25.07	1.00	$38,470
3	Stockers and Order Fillers in Colorado	32,610	20.27	1.11	$44,480
4	Registered Nurses in Colorado	30,380	18.88	0.87	$101,130
5	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Colorado	28,670	17.82	2.55	$94,990
6	Software Developers in Colorado	27,010	16.78	1.55	$137,610
7	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Colorado	26,130	16.24	0.59	$38,900
8	Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel in Colorado	24,480	15.21	1.88	$80,650
9	Cashiers in Colorado	23,860	14.82	0.75	$37,620
10	Customer Service Representatives in Colorado	23,560	14.64	0.88	$48,590
11	General and Operations Managers in Colorado	22,940	14.26	0.63	$142,330
12	Accountants and Auditors in Colorado	22,720	14.12	1.51	$100,020
13	Waiters and Waitresses in Colorado	20,750	12.89	0.88	$39,650
14	Project Management Specialists in Colorado	20,710	12.87	1.88	$116,740
15	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Colorado	19,460	12.09	0.85	$38,840
16	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Colorado	19,340	12.02	0.63	$46,290
17	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Colorado	17,660	10.97	1.38	$81,060
18	Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Colorado	17,000	10.56	1.83	$99,040
19	Office Clerks, General in Colorado	16,320	10.14	0.64	$53,990
20	Cooks, Restaurant in Colorado	15,410	9.58	1.06	$44,370

Most concentrated occupations in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers	8.31	520	0.33	$93,100
2	Information and Record Clerks, All Other	5.63	7,860	4.88	$56,150
3	Computer Network Architects	5.51	10,260	6.37	$139,230
4	Cartographers and Photogrammetrists	5.32	790	0.49	$86,080
5	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	5.23	5,600	3.48	$307,490
6	Flight Attendants	5.08	6,930	4.30	$59,500
7	Petroleum Engineers	4.83	900	0.56	$174,580
8	Sales and Related Workers, All Other	4.43	4,270	2.65	$63,110
8	Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other	4.43	2,150	1.34	$39,610
10	Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers	4.21	1,020	0.64	$120,480

Occupation groups in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$160,810	$174,000	94,010	58.42	0.82
Legal	$132,690	$164,010	18,270	11.35	1.35
Computer and Mathematical	$129,100	$129,650	86,530	53.77	1.59
Architecture and Engineering	$104,060	$114,140	43,820	27.23	1.62
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$99,840	$109,500	83,870	52.11	0.82
Business and Financial Operations	$96,450	$103,680	169,260	105.17	1.55
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$85,440	$99,430	17,880	11.11	1.17
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$71,600	$95,780	24,480	15.21	1.16
Educational Instruction and Library	$66,710	$79,790	79,390	49.33	0.84
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$64,920	$70,420	58,860	36.57	0.93
Construction and Extraction	$63,120	$68,640	71,570	44.47	1.08
Community and Social Service	$62,420	$68,910	29,860	18.56	1.08
Protective Service	$56,360	$67,740	34,860	21.66	0.89
Office and Administrative Support	$53,050	$58,040	168,520	104.71	0.92
Production	$50,510	$57,900	41,720	25.93	0.47
Sales and Related	$49,730	$69,470	165,560	102.87	1.19
Transportation and Material Moving	$47,720	$63,380	132,620	82.41	0.94
Healthcare Support	$44,970	$46,650	56,210	34.93	0.69
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$42,890	$45,490	45,500	28.27	0.97
Personal Care and Service	$40,610	$47,150	44,020	27.35	1.31
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$38,990	$44,840	1,820	1.13	0.41
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$38,710	$44,630	140,720	87.44	0.99

Every occupation in Colorado, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 646 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO estimates (area 19740).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.