Dental Assistant Salary in Colorado: What Dental Assistants Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$45,520
Median (50th)
$48,340
75th percentile
$58,340
National median
$48,070
BLS OEWS (SOC 31-9091), May 2025
What does a dental assistant make in Colorado?
The median dental assistant in Colorado earns $48,340 a year ($23.24 an hour), which is $270 above the national median of $48,070, and more than in nearby Nebraska ($46,660) and Oklahoma ($45,740) but less than in Arizona ($49,000). The mean is $50,230.
That ranks 22nd of the 49 states plus DC where BLS publishes a dental assistant median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Colorado
The middle half of Colorado dental assistants earn $45,520 to $58,340. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $38,500, $1,370 above the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $60,540, $1,710 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Colorado
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Colorado's 2024 price level at 103.1 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 3.1% above the national average, and housing (index 127.4) runs 27.4% above.
Converted to national average prices, the $48,340 median is worth about $46,910 — $1,160 below the national median of $48,070.
How many dental assistants work in Colorado
BLS counts about 8,360 dental assistant jobs in Colorado, 2.2% of the 387,790 nationwide, or 2.908 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dental assistants hold a 17% larger share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 1.17).
Dental Assistant Salary by City in Colorado
Across the 7 Colorado metro areas where BLS publishes a dental assistant median, pay runs from $45,710 in Pueblo to $58,760 in Boulder, a spread of $13,050.
All dental roles by metro: Boulder · Denver · Greeley · Pueblo
Who's hiring dental assistants in Colorado now
DentistryHires has 134 open dental assistant listings in Colorado from 40 employers, the most of them in Aurora (17).
122 post hourly pay, from $15 to $38 an hour. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dental Assistant Regulatory Context in Colorado
Dental assistant practice in Colorado is regulated by the Colorado Dental Board.
Scope of practice — what a dental assistant may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Colorado Compares
Other dental salaries in Colorado
- Dentist salary in Colorado: median $166,240, $117,900 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Hygienist salary in Colorado: median $109,580, $61,240 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Colorado: median $61,220, $12,880 above the dental assistant median
- Orthodontist salary in Colorado: median $416,000
- Oral Surgeon salary in Colorado: median $360,820
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.