2026 Colorado withholding
Colorado hourly paycheck calculator
Your rate and your hours in, one paycheck out. Colorado taxes wages at a flat 4.40% after an annual withholding allowance.
That is $1,600.00 of gross pay per paycheck, $41,600.00 a year. Overtime, shift differentials and unpaid weeks are not modelled — enter the hours you are actually paid for.
Take-home pay
per paycheck · $34,017.36 a year
- Gross pay
- $1,600.00
- Federal income tax
- −$108.15
- Social Security
- −$99.20
- Medicare
- −$23.20
- State income tax
- −$61.09
- Total withheld
- $291.64
18.2% of gross goes to taxes. 2026 rates. Estimate only — your employer's payroll may differ.
Free · No account · Runs in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere
At 40 hours a week
What each rate actually pays in Colorado
| An hour | A year, before tax | Take-home a year | Every 2 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $31,200 | $26,119 | $1,005 |
| $18 | $37,440 | $30,858 | $1,187 |
| $20 | $41,600 | $34,017 | $1,308 |
| $22 | $45,760 | $37,177 | $1,430 |
| $25 | $52,000 | $41,916 | $1,612 |
| $30 | $62,400 | $49,815 | $1,916 |
| $35 | $72,800 | $57,084 | $2,196 |
40 hours a week, 52 weeks, filing single, paid every two weeks, no pre-tax deductions and no dependents. 2026 rates. Overtime, tips and unpaid weeks are not modelled.
What comes out
What an hour's pay loses in Colorado
- Colorado has a single flat rate of 4.40%.
- Before the rate is applied, an annual allowance is subtracted: $11,000 for married filing jointly or a qualifying surviving spouse, $5,500 otherwise.
- Employees can override that allowance with Colorado Form DR 0004. This calculator uses the default from the DR 1098 worksheet.
- Federal income tax and FICA still come out of every paycheck — see the breakdown above.
Common questions
Hourly pay in Colorado
How much is $20 an hour after taxes in Colorado?
At 40 hours a week, $20 an hour is $41,600 a year before tax. Filing single with no pre-tax deductions, roughly $34,017 of that is take-home pay in Colorado — about $1,308 in each biweekly paycheck. Your own figure moves with your W-4, your benefits and the hours you actually work.
Is hourly pay taxed differently from a salary in Colorado?
No. Withholding is worked out from what you are paid in the period, not from how the job describes the pay. An hourly worker and a salaried worker who take home the same gross in the same period have the same federal tax, the same FICA and the same state withholding. The difference is that hourly pay varies week to week, so the withheld amount varies with it.
Does this include overtime?
No. Enter the hours you are actually paid for and the calculator uses that. Overtime, shift differentials, tips and bonuses are paid under their own rules — a bonus in particular is often withheld at a flat supplemental rate rather than through the normal tables, which is why it lands smaller than people expect.
What if my hours change every week?
Withholding is calculated fresh each payroll run, so a heavy week is withheld as though every week were that heavy, and a light week the other way. Over a year it roughly averages out, and the difference is settled on your tax return. Enter a typical week to see a typical paycheck.
Sources for these rates
- 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (DR 1098)
- IRS Publication 15-T (2026) — federal percentage method
- IRS Publication 15 (2026) — Social Security and Medicare
Tax year 2026. Rates last checked 2026-08-20. Estimates only — not tax, payroll or legal advice.
Other states