Actually, it's less than that unless the temperature is very high. Here's a link to a graph that shows the psi in the tank versus the temperature and percent of fill:
http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/gasses/co2pv.gif
At normal temperatures, and assuming your tank is not over-filled, the pressure in the tank should not be much more than 1000 psi.
The CO2 inside the tank is a liquid. When they fill the tank they fill it with liquid CO2. Only the headspace in the top of the tank (above the liquid) is gas. As you use the CO2 the liquid literally boils off, filling the headspace with more gas. This is why CO2 tanks are sized like 10 lbs., 15 lbs., etc. That is how many pounds of liquid CO2 they will hold.