Waiters and Waitresses Salary in Colorado

Waiters and Waitresses in Colorado earn a median $44,860 a year, +27% against the national median of $35,230; they and rank 8th of 51 states by median. That is 25% less than the median across all occupations in Colorado ($59,800). Colorado pays more than every neighbouring state: Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, Wyoming and Oklahoma range from $17,910 in Oklahoma to $43,950 in Arizona. Colorado employs 40,680 waiters and waitresses, 14.2 per 1,000 jobs, the 21st largest count of any state. A location quotient of 0.97 is close to the national share.

Colorado vs the United States, May 2025

Waiters and Waitresses: wage percentiles, mean, employment, jobs per 1,000 and location quotient in Colorado and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Colorado	Hourly	$14.81	$15.68	$21.57	$31.91	$37.58	$24.64	40,680	14.15	0.97
Colorado	Annual	$30,800	$32,610	$44,860	$66,360	$78,160	$51,240	40,680	14.15	0.97
United States	Hourly	$8.70	$13.34	$16.94	$22.65	$31.12	$19.26	2,270,910	–	–
United States	Annual	$18,100	$27,750	$35,230	$47,110	$64,720	$40,060	2,270,910	–	–

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: 8th of 51 states
Rank by employment: 21st of 51 states
Location quotient: 0.97
Jobs per 1,000: 14.15

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 3 nonmetropolitan areas touching Colorado publish a row for waiters and waitresses, sorted by median. Areas crossing a state line are listed under every state they touch; a linked metro has its own profile.

Area	Median hourly	Median annual	10th pct (annual)	90th pct (annual)	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Boulder, CO	$23.97	$49,870	$33,800	$80,920	2,670	13.90	0.95
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$22.77	$47,360	$30,800	$77,380	2,740	16.19	1.11
Greeley, CO	$22.35	$46,480	$30,800	$77,810	1,300	10.89	0.75
Colorado Springs, CO	$22.23	$46,230	$30,800	$78,220	4,330	13.69	0.94
Pueblo, CO	$21.87	$45,500	$30,800	$77,200	850	13.76	0.94
Grand Junction, CO	$21.03	$43,730	$30,800	$76,270	1,020	15.22	1.04
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$19.06	$39,650	$31,010	$78,380	20,750	12.89	0.88
Southwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area	$21.98	$45,730	$30,800	$77,750	2,340	21.56	1.48
Northwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area	$20.96	$43,600	$30,800	$77,870	3,780	28.57	1.96
Eastern and Southern Colorado nonmetropolitan area	$17.42	$36,230	$30,800	$76,180	870	12.37	0.85

Neighbouring states

State	Median hourly	Median annual	Employment	Location quotient
Colorado	$21.57	$44,860	40,680	0.97
Arizona	$21.13	$43,950	55,950	1.18
Kansas	$17.36	$36,120	19,480	0.93
Nebraska	$16.24	$33,770	13,310	0.89
New Mexico	$17.75	$36,920	12,740	1.00
Oklahoma	$8.61	$17,910	27,000	1.08
Utah	$14.98	$31,150	17,790	0.70
Wyoming	$11.50	$23,920	3,620	0.88

See the national page for Waiters and Waitresses (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.