Hiring a desktop publisher in Aurora, CO

Employers in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO area pay desktop publishers a median of $77,740, with the middle half of the market between $49,860 and $97,160. Aurora residents working in office and administrative support occupations report a median of $43,843, which is 44% below what the metro pays for this role.

What does a desktop publisher earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$49,860
Median	$77,740
75th percentile	$97,160

Half of desktop publishers in this area earn between $49,860 and $97,160. A band set below $49,860 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Aurora residents earn

$43,843

Median earnings of Aurora residents working in office and administrative support occupations, 24,407 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 44% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

The role pays well above the local residential norm, which usually means you can hire from inside Aurora rather than competing for commuters.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Operate desktop publishing software and equipment to design, lay out, and produce camera-ready copy.
Position text and art elements from a variety of databases in a visually appealing way to design print or web pages, using knowledge of type styles and size and layout patterns.
Check preliminary and final proofs for errors and make necessary corrections.
View monitors for visual representation of work in progress and for instructions and feedback throughout process, making modifications as necessary.
Enter text into computer keyboard and select the size and style of type, column width, and appropriate spacing for printed materials.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 43-9031.

Tools and technologies in demand

Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud software.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Aurora?

This is a job zone three: medium preparation needed occupation. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 32.9% of Aurora adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Aurora commute runs 28.9 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 14.8% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Adams County, administrative and support services employs 18,819 and turns over 17.1% a quarter, with 6,141 hires against 6,413 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $3,819 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 56.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about desktop publishers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a high-churn market, where speed matters more than a perfect fit.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $15,548 to $23,322 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring a desktop publisher somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other office and administrative support roles in Aurora

Aurora is the 3th largest of 3 Colorado cities in this dataset.