Radiologic Technologist Salary in Colorado 2026,
$87,760 Median | BLS Data by City

Colorado radiologic technologists earn a median $87,760 a year, $42.19 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $76,060 and $103,780 and a full range of $63,270 to $111,730. That is 9.5% above the $80,110 national median.

No. Colorado is one of a small number of states that does not license radiologic technologists at all — there is no state credential, no state examination and no title protection, despite the role involving ionising radiation. Practice is governed instead by employer requirements and by radiation control rules that apply to the facility and its equipment rather than to the individual operator.

Denver-Aurora-Centennial at $98,000, then Boulder at $88,330, Colorado Springs at $86,470, Pueblo at $86,340 and Fort Collins-Loveland at $84,000. The Denver corridor's premium of more than ten thousand dollars over the state median reflects where imaging volume and advanced modality suites concentrate.

The state does not require it, but employers effectively do. With no Colorado licence in existence, American Registry of Radiologic Technologists certification is the credential hospitals and imaging centres screen on, and modality-specific credentials for computed tomography, mammography and interventional work are required for those roles. In practice ARRT certification is the entry standard even though nothing in Colorado law says so.

A flat 4.4% state income tax that applies to shift differentials and overtime at the same rate as base pay. Denver, Aurora, Greenwood Village, Glendale and Sheridan levy a small flat monthly occupational privilege tax on people working in the city, which is relevant given that Denver-Aurora-Centennial at $98,000 is the best-paying imaging market in the state.

Less than you might expect for pay, and more than you might expect for accountability. Colorado pays 9.5% above the national median without a licence, because hospitals and imaging centres impose ARRT certification as a hiring condition and because accreditation requirements make it commercially necessary. What is missing is state oversight of the individual: there is no Colorado disciplinary process for a technologist, no title protection, and no state record of who is practising. For a technologist that means the credential you carry is entirely portable and entirely your own responsibility.

The band mixes general radiographers with technologists certified in computed tomography, mammography, interventional radiology and other advanced modalities, and most of the $63,270 to $111,730 range is that mix rather than a progression through seniority. The figure also includes overnight, weekend and on-call differentials that are a significant part of hospital imaging pay and that come with a demanding schedule the annual number does not show.

Modality, then market. Cross-training into computed tomography is the most reliable single step, followed by mammography, interventional radiology and advanced cardiac imaging, each with its own ARRT credential. After that, the Denver corridor at $98,000 pays more than ten thousand dollars above the state median, and the hospital systems there pay above outpatient imaging centres. Lead technologist, modality supervisor and clinical instructor roles, plus overnight and weekend differentials, are what reach the $103,780 seventy-fifth percentile and the $111,730 ninetieth.