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Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement starts at $60,372 a year — about $29.02 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $8,018 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $4,626 below the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Colorado run about 3% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $58,584 somewhere at average prices — $1,788 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 127 against a national average of 100, where goods are 99. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
What Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement says about itself
The mission of the Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement Division is to promote public safety, support economic growth, and the responsible sale and consumption of liquor and tobacco products, through the fair administration of liquor and tobacco/nicotine laws.
What Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement does
Colorado Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement investigators are state peace officers enforcing Colorado liquor and tobacco laws and exercising statutory peace-officer authority while performing official duties.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration — State Pay Plan; Colorado DOR Law Enforcement Authority — open the source document
$60,372. Current state pay plan; official law-enforcement authority page verified 8 August 2026
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
How this level compares
Where Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement starts at $60,372, so $4,626 below the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement officer make?
Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement starts a new officer on $60,372 a year, about $29.02 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration — State Pay Plan; Colorado DOR Law Enforcement Authority.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Colorado?
It ranks #33 of 35 agencies we have verified in Colorado — 2 pay less, 32 pay more in the state — and #1,218 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $8,018 below, and against other state agencies $4,626 below.
Compare with another department
Put Colorado Department of Revenue — Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in CO
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Colorado | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado State Patrol | State | 706 | $91,620 | +$31,248 | #184 |
| 2 | Parker Police Department | Municipal | 89 | $89,898 | +$29,526 | #217 |
| 3 | Johnstown Police Department | Municipal | 26 | $86,944 | +$26,572 | #266 |
| 4 | Broomfield Police Department | Municipal | 135 | $86,029 | +$25,657 | #278 |
| 5 | Golden Police Department | Municipal | 53 | $85,321 | +$24,949 | #287 |
| 6 | Lakewood Police Department | Municipal | 274 | $85,093 | +$24,721 | #291 |
| 7 | Breckenridge Police Department | Municipal | 25 | $83,990 | +$23,618 | #310 |
| 8 | Thornton Police Department | Municipal | 243 | $82,992 | +$22,620 | #332 |
| 9 | Commerce City Police Department | Municipal | 109 | $82,327 | +$21,955 | #341 |
| 10 | Larimer County Sheriff's Office | County | 228 | $81,765 | +$21,393 | #353 |
| 11 | Westminster Police Department | Municipal | 187 | $80,746 | +$20,374 | #387 |
| 12 | Boulder County Sheriff's Office | County | 106 | $80,496 | +$20,124 | #395 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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