Skip to content
uswages .org

Average Photographers Salary in Boulder, CO

Photographers in Boulder, CO earn a median annual salary of $60,930, which is +36.4% compared to the national median. There are 60 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Boulder, CO (metro area).

$60,930
Boulder, CO median annual wage
$29/hour median
+36.4%
Difference vs national median
National median is $44,660
60
Local employment
0.3 jobs per 1,000 workers
0.86
Location quotient
Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally
Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th
$39,590
25th
$44,510
Median
$60,930
75th
$88,610
90th
$99,990

All values are percentiles of annual wages.

This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in Boulder, CO, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.

Regional price parity

Cost-of-living context

All-items regional price parity
105.2%
Exact metro RPP match
Median wage adjusted to the national price level
$57,917
Goods: 96.1%
Services: 82.7%
Rents: 157.0%
Comparison links

Comparable metros for this occupation

Metro Median annual wage Compare Employment
Bend, OR $65,990 Compare 30
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO $62,550 Compare 70
Springfield, MA $60,430 Compare 40
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ $60,050 Compare 3,590
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT $60,000 Compare 280
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA $59,220 Compare 350

The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.

Area context

Top occupations in Boulder, CO

Occupation Median annual wage LQ
Surgeons, All Other $465,940 1.55
Physicians, All Other $453,460 0.25
Family Medicine Physicians $297,070 1.70
Chief Executives $216,400 0.43
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric $211,600 7.71
Natural Sciences Managers $210,340 2.31
Computer And Information Systems Managers $206,260 1.47
Architectural And Engineering Managers $203,420 2.49

Boulder, CO has salary data for 425 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Surgeons, All Other.

Historical series

Trend for Photographers in Boulder, CO

Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Photographers are projected to change by +1.8% from 2024 to 2034, with 12,700 annual openings.

Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.

For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.