- The middle half earn between $22.81 and $30.95 an hour.
- Only 7 states pay crime scene cleaners more at the median.
- Colorado pays more than all 7 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,400 crime scene cleaners on payrolls in Colorado.
- At the state median wage, a biohazard cleaning business needs to bill about $121.18 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Crime Scene Cleaner pay in Colorado, bottom to top
BLS has no figure for crime scene cleaners. These are its numbers for hazardous materials removal workers, the closest group, which includes decontamination workers along with asbestos and lead abatement crews. Treat them as a rough guide, not a measure of crime scene work itself.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $21.54 | $44,800 | $18.49 |
| 25th percentile | $22.81 | $47,440 | $21.50 |
| Median | $28.81 | $59,920 | $23.78 |
| 75th percentile | $30.95 | $64,370 | $29.58 |
| 90th percentile | $34.55 | $71,870 | $39.62 |
| Average (mean) | $28.00 | $58,230 | $27.13 |
Pay is bunched up in Colorado. The top tenth earn $34.55 an hour or more, about 1.6 times the $21.54 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.1 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
The floor is higher than nationally ($21.54 against $18.49) but the ceiling is lower ($34.55 against $39.62), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage ($28.00) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Colorado.
How Colorado compares with other states
Over a full year, the Colorado median of $59,920 is $10,470 more than the national $49,450.
In the state ranking, Colorado sits 8th, between Tennessee ($28.89) and Missouri ($28.42). The range runs from $17.61 in Arkansas to $35.14 in New York.
Colorado pays crime scene cleaners more than any of its neighboring states, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Colorado. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Colorado |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | $28.81 | $59,920 | |
| Arizona | $24.29 | $50,530 | −$4.52 an hour |
| Kansas | $21.89 | $45,530 | −$6.92 an hour |
| Nebraska | $23.34 | $48,540 | −$5.47 an hour |
| New Mexico | $25.69 | $53,440 | −$3.12 an hour |
| Oklahoma | $21.30 | $44,300 | −$7.51 an hour |
| Utah | $23.67 | $49,240 | −$5.14 an hour |
| Wyoming | $23.35 | $48,570 | −$5.46 an hour |
How many crime scene cleaners work in Colorado
About 1,400 crime scene cleaners work on payrolls in Colorado, 2.7% of the 51,710 nationwide, the 11th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in Colorado, 1.5 times the national share.
What a biohazard cleaning business in Colorado should charge
Higher wages in Colorado go straight into the price. Take a biohazard cleaning business in Colorado paying the state median of $28.81 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its starting numbers (40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit).
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $28.81 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $64,509 |
| Break-even rate | ($64,509 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $103.01 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $103.01 ÷ 0.85 | $121.18 |
That is $121.18 per billable hour, 4.2 times the wage, and $8.83 more than the $112.35 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $30.95 in Colorado, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $124.94.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.81, the rate only drops to $110.65.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-4041, hazardous materials removal workers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: crime scene cleaner salary by state.