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Colorado · SOC 17-2131

Materials Engineer Salary in Colorado

Verified

Published wages for materials engineers in Colorado, straight from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2024 release — the full percentile distribution, employment concentration, and metro detail.

Materials Engineers in Colorado earn a median of $121,430 per year ($126,100 mean), per BLS OEWS May 2024. The middle 50% earn $91,120–$165,170; the top 10% earn $183,630. That is 12% above the national median of $108,310, ranking Colorado #7 of 46 states that publish this occupation.

Median wage

Verified

$121,430

+12% vs national

Top 10% earn

$183,630

90th percentile

Employed in state

540

Reliability Moderate (14.6% RSE)

Exhibit 1

Materials Engineer pay distribution — Colorado vs national

Verified

Every figure below is a published BLS percentile. Bars share one scale, so the two distributions compare directly.

Colorado540 employed
$76,740$121,430$183,630
United States22,770 employed
$68,040$108,310$172,000
PercentileAnnual wagevs national
10th percentileentry / low$76,740+13%
25th percentile$91,120+6%
Median50th percentile$121,430+12%
75th percentile$165,170+19%
90th percentiletop earners$183,630+7%
Meanaverage$126,100+8%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024 — SOC 17-2131 (Materials Engineers), Colorado · n = 540 employed · 14.6% RSE on employment. Official release.
Exhibit 2

Where materials engineers earn most in Colorado

Verified

Metro areas in Colorado where BLS publishes a wage for SOC 17-2131. Metros BLS withholds are not listed.

Metro areaMedianTop 10%Employed
BoulderBoulder, CO$141,320$215,270100
DenverDenver-Aurora-Centennial, CO$123,700$171,960360
Source: BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan area estimates for SOC 17-2131 (Materials Engineers). 5 other Colorado metros had no published figure for this occupation and are omitted.
Exhibit 3

Colorado engineering labor market

Estimate

Concentration and pay level across all engineering occupations BLS publishes for this state.

Location quotient

1.27

Jobs per 1,000

0.19

State rank (pay)

#7 of 46

All engineering roles

$129,051

A location quotient of 1.27 means Colorado employs materials engineers at a meaningfully higher rate than the country as a whole — a genuine cluster for this discipline.

Method: Employment-weighted average of 11 published BLS OEWS May 2024 occupation medians for Colorado. Every input is a published BLS figure; the weighting is ours.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a materials engineer make in Colorado?
The median annual wage for materials engineers in Colorado is $121,430, according to BLS OEWS May 2024. The middle 50% earn between $91,120 and $165,170, and the top 10% earn over $183,630.
Is Colorado a good state for materials engineers?
Colorado pays 12% above the national median for this occupation and ranks 7 of 46 states with published data. BLS reports 540 materials engineers employed in the state.
What is the highest salary for a materials engineer in Colorado?
BLS reports the 90th-percentile wage in Colorado at $183,630 per year. Individual pay above that range exists but is not captured in the published percentiles.
Source details

Published wage from BLS OEWS May 2024 for SOC 17-2131 (Materials Engineers), Colorado (state).

Benchmarks come from published government wage data via BLS OEWS. Local and emerging-role figures are labeled estimates. Full methodology →

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