Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2025
Marketing Manager Salary in Denver, CO
Management · SOC 11-2021 · COL Index 112.8
Marketing Managers in Denver, CO earn a median salary of $182,470 as of 2025, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range of $124,230 to $290,850. The mean is $196,900 across approximately 4,220 workers. Adjusted for Denver, CO's cost-of-living index of 112.8, the median equates to $161,764 of purchasing power in an average-cost U.S. metro.
Marketing Manager in Denver, CO pays a substantial premium over the national median: $182,470 versus $150,623 nationally, roughly 21% above. The premium reflects local labor demand, cost-of-living adjustment, and industry concentration.
Cost-of-living in Denver, CO runs at index 112.8, above the national baseline. The cost-adjusted median works out to about $161,764 in national-baseline dollars. Wage distribution at the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles: $147,526, $182,470, $236,660, $290,850. 4,220 Marketing Manager workers are documented in Denver, CO per the BLS OEWS survey. The percentile spread is the most useful framing — entry-level pay clusters near p25, mid-career near p50, senior-level near p75-p90.
Salary Distribution
Percentile Breakdown
| Percentile | Salary | COL-Adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| 10th Percentile (Entry Level) | $124,230 | $110,133 |
| 25th Percentile | $147,526 | $130,785 |
| 50th Percentile (Median) | $182,470 | $161,764 |
| 75th Percentile | $236,660 | $209,805 |
| 90th Percentile (Top Earners) | $290,850 | $257,846 |
What These Numbers Tell You
The 10th-to-90th percentile band for Marketing Managers in Denver, CO is moderately wide — the 90th-percentile worker earns about 2.3× the 10th-percentile worker. That is typical for a professional role with standard career progression: experience, scope, and employer size all matter, but the spread is not so extreme that the role bifurcates into separate sub-markets.
Denver, CO's cost-of-living index of 112.8 sits close to the U.S. average — $182,470 here has roughly the same purchasing power as the same salary in the typical U.S. metro. That makes this market a clean baseline for comparing offers across cities.
Denver, CO ranks #5 of 69 BLS-tracked metros for Marketing Manager pay — in the top quartile nationally (top 7%). Markets in this band tend to be major regional employer hubs even when they are not the absolute highest-cost cities.
How to Use This in Negotiation
The classic negotiation move is to anchor your ask on the 75th percentile of the BLS band — $236,660 for Marketing Managers in Denver, CO — when you have meaningful experience, then bring evidence (years on the job, scope of past work, relevant certifications, comparable offers) to justify why you sit at that point in the distribution. Anchoring on the median when you have 5+ years of experience leaves money on the table; anchoring on the 90th percentile ($290,850) without strong evidence undercuts credibility.
For new entrants, the 25th-to-50th percentile band ($147,526–$182,470) is the realistic target. For mid-career workers, the median-to-75th band ($182,470–$236,660) is the right anchor. Senior specialists and managers should be benchmarking against the 75th-to-90th band ($236,660–$290,850).
For specific scripts and a full negotiation framework, see the data-driven salary negotiation guide. To benchmark your current pay, the salary percentile calculator places any number into the BLS distribution for this role and metro.
How This Salary Is Calculated
Wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program — a federal survey of about 1.2 million U.S. establishments, published once per year by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. The Denver, CO percentile bands above (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) and the mean are pulled directly from the BLS data file for SOC code 11-2021 in this MSA. The COL-adjusted figure rebases salary to a U.S. national average COL of 100, using a composite index derived from public housing, food, and transportation data. Read the full methodology for details.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average Marketing Manager salary in Denver, CO?
Marketing Managers in Denver, CO earn a median salary of $182,470 as of 2025, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS data. The mean (employment-weighted average) is $196,900 across roughly 4,220 workers in this metro.
What is the salary range for Marketing Managers in Denver, CO?
Pay ranges from $124,230 at the 10th percentile to $290,850 at the 90th percentile — a $166,620 spread. The 25th-to-75th percentile band ($147,526 to $236,660) is the typical anchor for salary negotiation.
Is $182,470 a good Marketing Manager salary in Denver, CO?
$182,470 is the BLS median — half of Marketing Managers in Denver, CO earn more, half earn less. Whether it is "good" depends on your experience: new entrants typically land near the 25th percentile ($147,526), mid-career workers near the median, and senior specialists near or above the 75th percentile ($236,660). Cost-of-living-adjusted to a national average baseline, the median equates to $161,764.
How does Marketing Manager pay in Denver, CO compare to other metros?
Denver, CO ranks #5 of 69 BLS-tracked metros for Marketing Manager median pay. It sits in the top quartile of U.S. metros for this role.
Where does this Marketing Manager salary data come from?
Every wage figure comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program at bls.gov/oes — public domain federal data covering 1.2 million U.S. employers. The same data feeds the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage system used for H-1B and federal contracting wage determinations.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Denver, CO MSA, SOC 11-2021, 2025 release. Public domain. See bls.gov/oes. Cite as: "SalaryTruth, BLS OEWS 2025."
Last refreshed 2026-05-21 · 4,220 Marketing Managers tracked in Denver, CO.