Lawyer Salary in Denver, CO: Median $131,459 in 2026
Denver (CO) · COL index 121 · Unemployment 3.3% · Metro pop 2,930,000 · Rank #45 of 283 for Lawyer salary
A Lawyer in Denver earns an estimated median of $131,459 per year. That figure starts from the Colorado state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($110,660) and scales it by Denver's composite cost-of-living index of 121 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $62,391; the 90th percentile reaches $260,672. After federal, Colorado state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Lawyer takes home approximately $95,662/year — about $7,972/month or $3,679 every other week.
Compared to the national Lawyer median of $145,760, Denver pays -9.8%. Relative to the Denver median household income of $85,200, a Lawyersalary runs +54.3%. Local unemployment is 3.3%[3], with an estimated 1,420 annual Lawyer openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (832,400).
Lawyer Snapshot — Denver (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Denver | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyer median salary | $131,459 | $145,760 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $62,391 | $95,240 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $260,672 | $350,000 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $95,662 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $573,363 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,858/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,700/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $102,339 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 121.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.3% | — | [3] |
How Lawyer Salaries Work in Denver
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Colorado state-level OEWS median ($110,660) and scaling by Denver's composite cost-of-living index (121)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Colorado state income tax at a 3.9% effective rate ($5,124/yr on the $131,459 median)[10].
Denver also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $102,339, which frames what "a good Lawyer salary" means locally: a $$131,459 wage pays about 128% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Lawyer Salary & Cost-of-Living Context — Denver
Buy vs rent in Denver
Monthly PITI on the $573,363 median home in Denver is ~$3,773/mo — vs a $1,858/mo median rent. Rent burden on median household income is 21.8%, which falls within the recommended 30% guideline for housing costs.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Denver
Estimated annual expense shares on a $95,662 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Denver's COL index of 121. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Denver's COL index of 121[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,395/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Denver
Renting
Buying
At $7,972/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $2,392/mo. Denver's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,858/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,700/mo), making rent very affordable on a median Lawyer salary. For homebuyers, the 4.3× price-to-income ratio is workable with a strong credit profile and manageable other debts.
How Denver Stacks Up for Lawyers
Against 283 major US cities: Denver ranks #45 for nominal Lawyer salary, #97 for rent affordability, and #240 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Denver's nominal wage premium. Lawyers here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Lawyer Salary Comparison
Denver's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs CO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver, CO ★ | $131,459 | 121 | $1,395 | — |
| Colorado Springs, CO | $150,133 | 103 | $995 | +14.2% |
| Fort Collins, CO | $161,794 | 111 | $1,500 | +23.1% |
| Boulder, CO | $192,403 | 132 | $2,100 | +46.4% |
| Aurora, CO | $155,963 | 107 | $1,650 | +18.6% |
| Thornton, CO | $157,421 | 108 | $1,700 | +19.7% |
Lawyer Job Market in Denver
Denver has an estimated 1,420 annual Lawyeropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 832,400 national Lawyers[1]. The 3.3% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
Top employers in Denver
About the profession: Lawyers advise and represent clients in civil and criminal legal matters. Compensation varies widely by practice area, firm size, and whether the attorney works at a firm or is self-employed. Typical entry requirement: doctoral or professional degree (jd). Projected growth through 2034: 8%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Denver
Early-career Lawyers in Denver start around $62,391, reach the city median ($131,459) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($260,672) at senior / specialized levels.
Related legal professions in Denver
Calculators for Lawyers in Denver
Other professions in Denver
Frequently Asked Questions — Lawyer in Denver
How much does a Lawyer make in Denver, CO?
The estimated median salary for a Lawyer in Denver is $131,459/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Colorado state median ($110,660) by Denver's composite cost-of-living index of 121 (US = 100). After federal, Colorado state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $95,662/year or $7,972/month.
Can a Lawyer afford to live in Denver?
On $7,972/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $2,392/month. Denver's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,858/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,700/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 12.7%, making housing very affordable for a Lawyer at the local median. Home-buyers face 4.3× price-to-income, needing roughly 4.3 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Lawyer pay in Denver?
On $131,459 gross, a Lawyer in Denver pays approximately $20,617 in federal income tax (15.7% effective), $5,124 in Colorado state income tax (3.9% effective), and $10,056 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 27.2%. Some Colorado cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Denver rank for Lawyer salaries vs other cities?
Denver ranks #45 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Lawyer salary, #97 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #240 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Lawyer in Denver?
On $95,662 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Denver looks like: housing $16,740/yr (17.5%); food $12,926/yr; transportation $10,370/yr; healthcare $7,118/yr; utilities $5,285/yr; savings + discretionary $43,223/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Denver's COL index of 121 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Lawyer job market like in Denver?
Denver's unemployment rate is 3.3% across the metro of 2,930,000. Estimated annual Lawyer openings: ~1,420 (extrapolated from 832,400 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Denver employers pay above or below the Colorado median for Lawyers?
Not consistently — Denver's estimated Lawyer median of $131,459 is 9.8% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Denver median is derived from the Colorado state-level BLS OEWS median ($110,660), scaled by Denver's composite cost-of-living index of 121. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Lawyermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Colorado's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 121index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 101.9(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Colorado Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
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