- The middle half earn between $20.75 and $26.64 an hour.
- Colorado ranks 34th of the 48 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- Colorado pays more than 3 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 380 locksmiths on payrolls in Colorado.
- At the state median wage, a locksmith business needs to bill about $110.70 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Locksmith pay in Colorado, bottom to top
BLS files these as locksmiths and safe repairers: the people who open and repair locks, make keys, change locks and combinations, and install and repair safes.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $17.08 | $35,530 | $17.08 |
| 25th percentile | $20.75 | $43,160 | $20.75 |
| Median | $22.84 | $47,500 | $24.68 |
| 75th percentile | $26.64 | $55,410 | $31.04 |
| 90th percentile | $34.06 | $70,840 | $38.17 |
| Average (mean) | $24.26 | $50,460 | $26.67 |
Pay is bunched up in Colorado. The top tenth earn $34.06 an hour or more, about 2 times the $17.08 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.2 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 ($17.08 against $17.08) but the ceiling is lower ($34.06 against $38.17), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $24.26, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Colorado compares with other states
Over a full year, the Colorado median of $47,500 is $3,820 less than the national $51,320.
In the state ranking, Colorado sits 34th, between Indiana ($22.91) and Nevada ($22.81). The range runs from $17.20 in Arkansas to $36.89 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, Colorado is in the middle: Kansas, Nebraska and Utah pay more, and Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma pay less.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
How many locksmiths work in Colorado
About 380 locksmiths work on payrolls in Colorado, 2.5% of the 15,040 nationwide, the 11th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 0.1 of every 1,000 jobs in Colorado, 1.4 times the national share.
What a locksmith business in Colorado should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a locksmith business in Colorado paying the state median of $22.84, on the labor rate calculator's 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 | $22.84 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $51,142 |
| Break-even rate | ($51,142 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $94.09 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $94.09 ÷ 0.85 | $110.70 |
That is $110.70 per billable hour, 4.8 times the wage, and $3.23 less than the $113.93 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $26.64 in Colorado, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $117.37.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $20.75, the rate only drops to $107.03.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a locksmith in Colorado
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how locksmiths run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
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 49-9094, locksmiths and safe repairers, 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: locksmith salary by state.