Cooks, Fast Food Salary in Colorado

Cooks, Fast Food in Colorado earn a median $36,900 a year, +19% against the national median of $30,890; they and rank 9th of 51 states by median. That is 38% less than the median across all occupations in Colorado ($59,800). Colorado pays more than every neighbouring state: Arizona, Utah, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma range from $27,720 in Oklahoma to $32,660 in Arizona. Colorado employs 9,220 cooks, fast food, 3.21 per 1,000 jobs, the 20th largest count of any state. A location quotient of 0.78 means it is less common in Colorado than nationally.

Colorado vs the United States, May 2025

Cooks, Fast Food: wage percentiles, mean, employment, jobs per 1,000 and location quotient in Colorado and nationally, May 2025
AreaBasisPercentile wageMeanEmploymentJobs per 1,000Location quotient
10th25thMedian75th90th
ColoradoHourly$15.37$16.73$17.74$18.74$22.41$18.469,2203.210.78
Annual$31,970$34,790$36,900$38,990$46,610$38,400
United StatesHourly$10.86$13.11$14.85$17.92$20.63$15.57641,070––
Annual$22,580$27,260$30,890$37,260$42,910$32,390
$0$20k$40k$60k10th10th: $31,970$31,97025th25th: $34,790$34,790MedianMedian: $36,900$36,90075th75th: $38,990$38,99090th90th: $46,610$46,610US median
Colorado annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.
Rank by median
9th of 51 states
Rank by employment
20th of 49 states
Location quotient
0.78
Jobs per 1,000
3.21

Ranks count the 50 states and DC with a published value. The location quotient is the occupation's share of Colorado's employment divided by its national share; 1.00 means the same share as the nation. Take-home pay at these wages: FastCalc's take-home pay calculator.

Metropolitan areas in Colorado

7 metropolitan areas and 2 nonmetropolitan areas touching Colorado publish a row for cooks, fast food, sorted by median. Areas crossing a state line are listed under every state they touch; a linked metro has its own profile.

AreaMedian hourlyMedian annual10th pct (annual)90th pct (annual)EmploymentJobs per 1,000Location quotient
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO$18.53$38,530$34,040$49,5704,2202.620.64
Colorado Springs, CO$17.58$36,560$31,030$39,2801,3404.241.03
Boulder, CO$17.43$36,250$33,380$45,3805803.010.73
Greeley, CO$17.23$35,840$31,000$38,2203603.000.73
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO$16.94$35,230$32,660$47,0509605.681.38
Pueblo, CO$16.44$34,180$30,800$38,2903405.461.33
Grand Junction, CO$16.34$33,980$30,800$37,9903104.671.13
Southwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area$18.00$37,440$32,190$46,8303903.580.87
Eastern and Southern Colorado nonmetropolitan area$17.78$36,990$32,190$42,8601602.250.55

Neighbouring states

StateMedian hourlyMedian annualEmploymentLocation quotient
Colorado$17.74$36,9009,2200.78
Arizona$15.70$32,66011,2100.84
Kansas$13.77$28,6401,6100.27
Nebraska$14.63$30,4302,9000.69
New Mexico$14.52$30,1901,8000.50
Oklahoma$13.33$27,7208,8601.26
Utah$15.29$31,8004,4000.61
Wyoming$13.92$28,9508900.77

See the national page for Cooks, Fast Food (every state ranked) and the Colorado wage profile (every occupation in the state).

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Colorado estimates.

  • 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.