Nurse Practitioner Salary in Colorado for 2024

Written By: Pattie Trumble, MPP, MPH

While nurse practitioners in Colorado are free to assess, diagnose and treat patients as soon as they pass the national nurse practitioner certification exam, NPs must either have three years of clinical experience or complete a 1,000-hour preceptorship with a supervising physician before they will be allowed to write prescriptions. The average salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado is 116,440 a year, which is 7 percent less than the average nurse practitioner salary throughout all parts of the 50 states. Colorado was the first state in which the nurse practitioner role was defined back in the 1960s. How much does a nurse practitioner make in Colorado? Keep reading for a detailed look at nurse practitioner salary in Colorado for 2024.

What is the Starting Salary of a Nurse Practitioner in Colorado?

What is the starting salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado? The entry-level salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado is $40.90 an hour, $7,090 a month or $85,080 annually, a figure that’s only about two-thirds of the average NP salary in the Centennial State. Why do entry-level nurse practitioners in Colorado make such comparatively low salaries?

For one thing, as noted above, Colorado nurse practitioners can’t prescribe medications without a physician’s go-ahead when they’re first starting out. The power to prescribe medications is an important part of the ability to treat a patient, but by state law, many NPs in the Centennial State end up working under a physician’s oversight for 1,000 hours—the equivalent of 25 work weeks—before they’re granted independent prescriptive authority. This hampers the effectiveness of entry-level NPs considerably.

For another thing, while nurse practitioners are introduced to the critical thinking skills and hands-on competencies they will use throughout their careers when they attend the best nurse practitioner programs in Colorado, they haven’t had sufficient time to develop those proficiencies. It will take them some months before what they’ve learned becomes second nature to them. During that time, they won’t be able to take on a full patient load, and they’ll probably need to be mentored by a more experienced nurse practitioner. (The exact amount of time will depend upon their NP specialty, but it’s usually somewhere between four to six months.) During this period, the organization they work for stands to lose money because patient coverage won’t be optimally efficient. The lower salaries paid to entry-level nurse practitioners in Colorado mitigate some of the operational costs associated with training and orienting new employees.

What is the Average Salary of a Nurse Practitioner in Colorado?

What is the average salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado? The average nurse practitioner salary in Colorado is $55.98 an hour, which multiplies out to $9,700 a month or $116,440 a year. Most NPs in the Centennial State hit this benchmark toward the end of their fourth year of practice.

As a rule, nurse practitioners in states that grant NPs full practice authority tend to earn higher average salaries than NPs in states where practice authority is circumscribed. While Colorado NPs have full practice authority as soon as they pass their certification exam, they do not have full prescriptive authority—which, in practical terms, places restrictions on their ability to practice autonomously. NPs must complete both a preceptorship and a mentorship with a collaborating physician in order to gain full prescription privileges, and the collaborating physician can ask to be compensated for providing these oversight services. Such out-of-pocket expenses may provide a partial explanation for why the average salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado is 7 percent less than the national average.

Average salaries also reflect the cost of living. This can vary considerably from geographical locale to geographical locale. The cost of living in Colorado is 21 percent higher than the cost of living as a whole throughout all 50 states, but this figure may be skewed by the inclusion of outlier cities like Aspen where the cost of living is nearly three times the U.S. average. In the two-thirds of Colorado’s 64 counties that are classified as “rural” or “frontier,” the cost of living is much lower, so cost of living could certainly be another reason why nurse practitioner salary in Colorado is slightly less than the national average.

Nurse Practitioner Salary in Colorado by Years of Experience

Experienced Colorado NPs make higher salaries than their less experienced counterparts. A nurse practitioner who’s been on the job for one to four years makes 20 percent more than the starting nurse practitioner salary in Colorado while a nurse practitioner who’s been on the job for five to nine years makes 17 percent more than a Colorado NP with one to four years of experience. With 10 to 19 years of experience, NPs in the Centennial State can expect to see their salaries rise by nearly 68 percent over the amount they made when they were first starting out.

The reason for this is obvious: NPs with experience are better at their jobs. They’re able to assess, diagnose and provide patient care more efficiently than less experienced nurse practitioners, and this makes them more cost-effective employees.

Centennial State NPs with two decades or more of experience make nearly twice as much as nurse practitioners who are just starting out. High salaries for experienced NPs are often incentives to dissuade those NPs from retiring. Thirty-nine percent of Colorado’s nurse practitioners are 55 years of age or older, and actively contemplating retirement. Like many other states, Colorado is facing a shortage of primary care providers with the potential to impact the state in devastating ways. High salaries may function as an incentive to help keep Colorado’s most experienced NPs in the workforce.

Total Annual Nurse Practitioner Compensation (Including Other Benefits) in Colorado

Salaries aren’t the only value proposition that employers use to attract prospective employees. Employers also sweeten the pot with various forms of non-cash compensation called benefits. For nurse practitioners in Colorado, benefits can really add up. The average cash value of the benefits package for a Colorado nurse practitioner in the private sector is $49,197, which is 42 percent of their average salary. The average cash value of the benefits package for a Colorado nurse practitioner working for the state or local government is $71,614, which is 62 percent of their average salary.

By law, employers must offer certain benefits like COBRA, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance. Other benefits like healthcare insurance, paid time off and retirement fund contributions are offered at an employer’s discretion. Why are employers willing to take on the added expenses that a good benefits package can entail? Because it helps them attract high-quality employees into their workforce.

If you’re thinking about accepting a nurse practitioner position in Colorado, it can pay to factor benefits as well as salary into your deliberations. Colorado NPs working for state and local governments make salaries that are 1 percent less than their private-sector colleagues. But when you factor in benefits, their total compensation package is 12 percent higher. And these benefits aren’t taxable.

Nurse Practitioner Salary in Colorado by Practice Setting

Nearly 48 percent of Colorado’s 3,630 nurse practitioners work in private physicians’ offices. NPs based in private physicians’ offices earn 6 percent less than hospital-based nurse practitioners and 9 percent less than nurse practitioners who work in outpatient care centers. Why? Because operational overheads generally run much higher in private physicians’ practices. It’s not unusual for operational overheads in a private practice to run as high as 70 percent, and private physicians’ practices, particularly those with a majority of Medicaid and Medicare patients, are compensated at a lower rate and can’t rely upon the cost-saving economies of scale that hospitals, medical centers, and medical corporations rely upon.

Twenty-four percent of the Centennial State’s nurse practitioners work in hospital settings while 9 percent work in outpatient care centers. “Outpatient care center” describes patient care settings that include emergency rooms, urgent care clinics, and ambulatory care centers. Outpatient medical care centers are typically profit centers for the medical centers and medical corporations that run them because outpatient care centers treat high numbers of patients but incur low operational costs. NPs play an important role in the efficiency with which outpatient care centers operate and are compensated accordingly.

A certain number of NPs run their own practices. They either own these practices or operate them as part of a preferred provider network. Many of these practices are in rural parts of Colorado. Revenue figures for NP-owned practices are not available.

Nurse Practitioner Salary in Colorado by Specialty

1. Adult Gerontology-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner:

The average adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner salary in Colorado is $57.88 an hour or $120,400 a year, which is 1 percent less than the average nurse practitioner salary in Colorado for all NP specialties. Colorado’s AGACNPs are mainly employed in the intensive care units and emergency rooms associated with the state’s largest medical centers in Denver, Aurora, Fort Collins, and Pueblo. Adult gerontology-acute care nurse practitioners have been frontline care providers in Colorado throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hourly	$57.88
Annual	$120,400

2. Adult Gerontology-Primary Care Nurse Practitioner:

Adult gerontology-primary care nurse practitioners in the Centennial State specialize in primary care services such as the treatment of non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries, wellness promotion, patient education, and other preventative services. What distinguishes them from family nurse practitioners is that they don’t provide services to children or adolescents younger than 18. The average adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner salary in Colorado is $54.73 an hour or $113,850 annually, which is 5 percent less than the average salary of AGNPs who specialize in acute care. AG-PCNPs work primarily in physician offices in both urban and rural settings as well as in community clinics.

Hourly	$54.73
Annual	$113,850

3. Dermatology Nurse Practitioner:

A dermatology nurse practitioner’s scope of practice is difficult to elucidate because dermatology is not one of the specialties defined by the Advanced Practice RN consensus model. Dermatology nurse practitioners in Colorado are typically NPs who’ve graduated with a family nurse practice specialty or an adult gerontology-primary care nurse practice specialty, and who’ve gone on to receive on-the-job training in clinical dermatological procedures. Dermatology NPs specialize in skin diseases and cosmological procedures. In Colorado, DNPs work in dermatologists’ offices, cosmetic surgeon’s practices and medical spas located in places like Denver, Aurora, and the more affluent ski resorts. Dermatology NPs in the Centennial State make $57.09 an hour or $118,740 annually.

Hourly	$57.09
Annual	$118,740

4. Family Nurse Practitioner:

Family nurse practitioners provide primary care services such as wellness promotion, preventative interventions and education to patients of all ages from newborns to senior citizens. Seventy-one percent of Colorado’s nurse practitioners are specialists in primary care. In Colorado, there are 1,873 residents for every primary care provider, but primary care providers are disproportionately distributed, so in some places, that ratio is much larger. The federal government has designated nine regions in the Centennial State as medically underserved, and it’s in these places—a mix of rural and urban areas—that FNPs can have their greatest impact.

What is the average FNP salary in Colorado? The average family nurse practitioner salary in Colorado is $56.78 an hour or $118,100 annually, which is 1 percent less than the average salary across the state. In Colorado as in many other states, family nurse practice is one of the lowest-paying NP specialties, which may be due to the fact that it’s the most common NP specialty.

Hourly	$56.78
Annual	$118,100

5. Neonatal Nurse Practitioner:

Neonatal nurse practitioners care for medically fragile newborns who’ve been hospitalized because of prematurity, low birth weight, cardiac abnormalities, meconium aspiration, or other complications. In 2019, 10 percent of the infants born in the Centennial State were premature. Nine percent of Colorado’s 3,080 nurse practitioners are neonatal nurse practitioners. Neonatal nurse practitioners are the highest-paid nurse practitioners in Colorado. The average neonatal nurse practitioner salary in Colorado is $60.96 an hour or $126,780 annually, a figure that’s 6 percent more than the average nurse practitioner salary in Colorado for all specialties.

Hourly	$60.96
Annual	$126,780

6. Pediatric-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner:

Pediatric-acute care nurse practitioners work with critically ill infants, children and teenagers who require hospitalization. Many of them are employed by one of Colorado’s three dedicated children’s hospitals. P-ACNPs are often cross-trained in the care of medically fragile infants, which makes them cost-effective substitutes for neonatal nurse practitioners when the latter are in short supply. Colorado’s pediatric-acute care nurse practitioners make $59.39 an hour or $123,550 a year, which is 3 percent more than the average salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado across all specialties.

Hourly	$59.39
Annual	$123,550

7. Pediatric-Primary Care Nurse Practitioner:

Pediatric-primary care nurse practitioners provide treatment for non-life-threatening illnesses, injuries and chronic medical conditions to infants, children, and adolescents who are younger than 18. Occasionally, they provide care for adults with chronic conditions that were first diagnosed in childhood. The average pediatric-primary care nurse practitioner salary in Colorado is $55.00 an hour or $114,390 a year, which is 4 percent less than the average nurse practitioner salary in Colorado for all specialties and 7 percent less than what acute care pediatric nurse practitioners average in the Centennial State. Why do primary care pediatric NPs make less than acute care pediatric NPs? Probably because most P-PCNPs are affiliated with physicians’ practices, which pay lower salaries than hospitals and medical centers.

Hourly	$55.00
Annual	$114,390

8. Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP):

Psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners work with patients of all ages who are affected by mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and psychosis. They carry out examinations and mental health assessments, prescribe medications when appropriate, and participate in psychotherapy sessions. What is the average psychiatric NP salary in Colorado? The average psychiatric nurse practitioner salary in Colorado is $59.79 an hour or $124,370 annually, which is 4 percent more than the average salary for Colorado NPs across all specialties.

Five percent of the Centennial State’s 3,080 nurse practitioners are psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners. Many of them work at one of the 17 regional mental health centers operated by Colorado’s Department of Human Services. Before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 23 percent of Colorado adults reported being affected by some sort of mental illness, and that number has almost certainly gone up in the intervening two years. P-MHNPs have the training to provide the support these people need in a cost-effective manner.

Hourly	$59.79
Annual	$124,370

9. Women's Health Nurse Practitioner:

Thirteen percent of Colorado’s 3,080 NPs provide primary care services exclusively to female patients. These women’s health nurse practitioners work primarily in the practices of OB/GYN physicians and in community clinics. Their specialized training allows them to assess, diagnose and treat conditions specific to women of all ages and to perform preventative interventions such as well-woman exams, breast cancer screenings, and PAP smears. WHNPs earn $55.00 an hour or $114,390 a year; this amount is 4 percent less than the average nurse practitioner salary in Colorado across all specialties.

Hourly	$55.00
Annual	$114,390

Nurse Practitioner Salary in Colorado by City

1. Denver:

Thirteen percent of Colorado’s population lives in Denver, the Centennial State’s largest city. Thirteen percent of Denver’s residents live in poverty, and poverty is linked to a number of negative health outcomes, including shorter life expectancies and higher infant mortality rates. Access to primary care services can help mitigate these negative outcomes. Leading hospitals in Denver include SCL Health Saint Joseph Hospital, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital (technically in Aurora, a Denver suburb), and SCL Health Good Samaritan Medical Center (technically in Lafayette, a Denver suburb). The average nurse practitioner salary in Denver is $57.06 an hour or $118,690 a year.

Hourly	$57.06
Annual	$118,690

2. Colorado Springs:

Residents of Colorado Springs and surrounding El Paso County have higher life expectancies than the U.S. average; fewer residents with chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes; and better access to primary care. Colorado Springs also has the lowest obesity rate of any major metropolitan area in the U.S. The area is served by a number of hospitals, including Cedar Springs Hospital, UC Health Grandview Hospital, and UC Health Memorial Hospital. The average salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado Springs, CO, is $54.90 an hour or $114,190 a year.

Hourly	$54.90
Annual	$114,190

3. Fort Collins:

According to the website Liveability.com, Fort Collins is one of the healthiest cities in the nation. The city has much lower incidences of obesity and high blood pressure than most cities in the U.S., and Fort Collins also has the third-lowest rate of diabetes of any major metropolitan area in the nation. Average healthcare costs here are lower, too. The city is famous for its bicycle culture and its access to outdoor recreation. The average salary of a nurse practitioner in Fort Collins is $56.21 an hour or $116,920 a year, which is 1 percent higher than the national average.

Hourly	$56.21
Annual	$116,920

4. Pueblo:

Pueblo is one of the largest steel-producing cities in the U.S., which means that its residents are exposed to many more environmental toxins than residents of other Colorado cities. Pueblo’s health markers fall behind those of other parts of the Centennial State in other areas as well. The city’s obesity rates are 7 percent higher than in other parts of the state, and incidences of hypertension, diabetes, and other conditions associated with obesity are comparatively high. The average NP salary in Pueblo, CO, is $54.66 an hour or $113,690 annually, which is 5 percent lower than the average nurse practitioner salary throughout all parts of Colorado.

Hourly	$54.66
Annual	$113,690

5. Greeley:

Greeley is an agricultural city in Weld County, close to the border Colorado shares with Wyoming. The city has a heightened airborne cancer risk because of pesticide residues in its air and water. Greeley residents report slightly less access to primary care providers than residents in other parts of the Centennial State, but that access is still higher than it is for most people living in other parts of the U.S. The average NP salary in Greeley, CO, is $45.11 an hour or $93,840 annually, which is 11 percent less than the average nurse practitioner salary throughout the state.

Hourly	$45.11
Annual	$93,840

NP Pay in Colorado VS. Other Nursing Careers

As APRNs in a state that allows them practice autonomy to the full extent of their education, nurse practitioners in Colorado earn average higher salaries than nurses in practically every other nursing career track. NPs in the Centennial State earn 41 percent more than registered nurses without a graduate degree and more than twice as much as licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). They make 33 percent less than nurse anesthetists, but this is likely a reflection of the fact that in general, healthcare professionals involved in surgery make more than healthcare professionals involved in medicine.

NP Pay in Colorado VS. Other Healthcare Careers

Colorado nurse practitioners earn significantly lower salaries than dentists, optometrists, podiatrists, and pharmacists. This may reflect the fact that most NPs currently practicing in the Centennial State are graduates of Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) programs while these other healthcare professionals are graduates of four-year doctoral programs. In 2004, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing recommended that the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree become the terminal degree for all advanced practice RNs. If this takes place, it’s likely that nurse practitioner salaries will go up.

Why is the Outlook Bright for Nurse Practitioner Salary in Colorado?

Though the shortage of primary care providers in Colorado isn’t as dire as it is in many other states, it still presents a threat to the wellbeing of many of the Centennial State’s residents. Though most of Colorado’s population lives in its urban corridors, more than 700,000 people live in rural or frontier counties that are facing a serious shortage of primary care providers. The Robert Graham Center, a health policy think tank, has estimated that Colorado will need an additional 1,773 primary healthcare providers by 2030 in order to maintain its current primary care utilization rates.

Since the Centennial State’s nurse practitioners have full practice authority, they have both the education and the legal mandate to meet this demand. High demand for services is usually linked with a willingness to pay more for those services. Hence, there is every reason to anticipate that nurse practitioner salary in Colorado will continue to rise.

Summing It Up

This article has offered a comprehensive answer to the question, “How much does a nurse practitioner make in Colorado?” Keep in mind, though, that the average salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado for 2024 is only one of the many reasons why you might consider embarking upon a career as a nurse practitioner in the Centennial State. As a nurse practitioner, you’ll have a positive influence on many people’s lives. And should you start to feel burned out, there are a multitude of NP specialties and subspecialties that will allow you to keep challenging yourself in new directions.

TOP QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY OUR EXPERT

1. How many Nurse Practitioners are currently employed in Colorado?

Currently, 3,630 nurse practitioners are working in Colorado.

2. How much does a nurse practitioner make per hour in Colorado?

The average nurse practitioner salary per hour in Colorado is $55.98. Entry-level nurse practitioners make $40.90 an hour while NPs with one to four years of experience make $48.91 an hour, and NPs with five to nine years of experience make $57.01 an hour, Nurse practitioners with 20 or more years of experience make $68.88 an hour.

3. How does the average salary of a nurse practitioner in Colorado compare to the average NP salary in the U.S?

Nurse practitioners in Colorado make $116,440 a year, which is 7 percent less than the amount nurse practitioners earn on average throughout all parts of the U.S. ($124,680 a year.)

4. How much does a family nurse practitioner make in Colorado?

The average FNP salary in Colorado is $56.78 an hour, $9,840 a month, or $118,100 a year.

5. How much does a psychiatric nurse practitioner make in Colorado?

The average PMHNP salary in Colorado is $59.79 an hour, $10,360 a month, or $124,370 annually.

6. What are the 5 highest-paid Nurse Practitioners in Colorado?

With an annual salary of $126,780, the neonatal nurse practitioner is the highest-paid nurse practitioner in Colorado. The four other most highly paid NPs in the Centennial State are the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner ($124,370), the pediatric-acute care nurse practitioner ($123,550), the adult gerontology-acute care nurse practitioner ($120,400), and the dermatology nurse practitioner ($118,740).

7. What are the 5 highest paying cities for Nurse Practitioners in Colorado?

The five cities in Colorado where nurse practitioners earn the highest salaries are Boulder ($122,320), Denver-Aurora-Lakewood ($118,690), Fort Collins ($116,920), Grand Junction ($111,220), and Pueblo ($113,690).

8. How much do Nurse Practitioners earn in the various metros of Colorado?

Nearly half of Colorado’s nurse practitioners are employed in the Greater Denver-Aurora-Lakewood Metropolitan Area where they earn $57.06 an hour or $118,690 a year. Nurse practitioners working in Boulder earn $58.81 an hour or $122,320 a year while NPs working in Pueblo earn $54.66 an hour or $113,690 a year.

9. Where do the majority of Nurse Practitioners practice in Colorado?

Most Colorado-based NPs are employed in private doctors’ practices. Some 1,730 nurse practitioners in the Centennial State are affiliated in some way with the offices of physicians.

10. What are the approximate number of annual job openings for nurse practitioners in Colorado for 2023?

Experts predict that there will be 300 job openings for Colorado-based nurse practitioners in 2023. While 174 of these will be newly created positions, 126 will be replacement jobs for NPs who have retired or moved out of state.

11. What is the job outlook for NPs in Colorado?

The job outlook for nurse practitioners in Colorado is very strong. The number of NP positions in the Centennial State is projected to grow 43 percent by 2030.