Live in Pennsylvania, work in Delaware
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Delaware takes
$2,763
on wages earned there
Pennsylvania takes
$0
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,763
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$921
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
costs youDelaware charges more than Pennsylvania would, and Pennsylvania only credits you up to its own bill — so the difference stays with you. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Pennsylvania bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- You are not taxed twice over. You are taxed at the higher of the two rates, which is its own kind of bad news. Pennsylvania hands back what you paid Delaware, but only as far as its own bill goes. Anything Delaware charges above that, you keep paying. On this salary the year comes to $2,763. Work at home instead and it would be $1,842.
- More people make this crossing than any other into Delaware. About 39,815 jobs there are held by people living in Pennsylvania — the biggest of the 3 routes of this size into the state. Whatever this page says about the tax, it is describing a very well-worn road.
- Delaware taxes wages earned inside its borders by non-residents, and Pennsylvania taxes its residents on the same wages wherever they are earned. The resident credit resolves the overlap but does not erase it: Pennsylvania credits tax paid to Delaware only up to what it would itself have charged on that income, so the commuter settles at the higher of the two liabilities rather than the sum. At the reference salary that is $2,763 against $1,842 for the same earner working at home — $921 attributable to the state line itself. ⚠️ The corollary is the part most readers have backwards: moving to a cheaper home state while keeping the job in Delaware changes the split between the two treasuries and not the total.
- Measured against every other state sending commuters into Delaware, this is the largest single flow: 39,815 jobs held by Pennsylvania residents, ahead of all 3 corridors of this size into that state. Census LODES counts jobs rather than people, so a worker holding two positions in Delaware appears twice.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,303
- Yours$59,290
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.07% | $2,303 |
| Yours79.05% | $59,290 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Delaware takes, on wages earned there | $2,763 |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania charges its residents | $1,842 |
| Less the credit Pennsylvania gives | $1,842 |
| Total state tax | $2,763 |
| If you also worked in Pennsylvania | $1,842 |
| Difference | $921 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Delaware is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Pennsylvania residents.
- These numbers assume the job in Delaware is your only income, and that you actually go there to work. Both matter. If you earn money in more than one state, the credit Pennsylvania gives is worked out as a share rather than the simple cap used here. And if you work from home some days, some states have rules that treat those days as worked at the office anyway.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Pennsylvania and Delaware takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Delaware or Pennsylvania carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Delaware and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Pennsylvania limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Delaware portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Delaware rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Pennsylvania to Delaware comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Delaware's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Pennsylvania and Delaware?
You file in both states, but you do not pay the full amount to both. Pennsylvania credits the tax Delaware collected, capped at its own charge on that income. The practical result is one bill at the higher of the two levels: $2,763 for the year.
Would moving out of Pennsylvania lower my state tax if I keep working in Delaware?
Probably not, and this is the part people get wrong. Delaware taxes the wages because that is where you earn them, whoever you are and wherever you sleep. Your home state only ever credits you up to its own bill. So moving somewhere cheaper changes which government keeps the money, not how much leaves your pay. What would change it is the job moving, not you.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Pennsylvania and Delaware?
Expect two. Living in Pennsylvania means filing there on everything you earn. Working in Delaware usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Pennsylvania some days instead of going to Delaware?
Normally, days worked at home in Pennsylvania belong to Pennsylvania, and only the days you spend in Delaware are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check Delaware's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Delaware on a source basis, Pennsylvania on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,763 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Does changing residence reduce combined liability while the work state is unchanged?
No, while the source state is unchanged. Delaware's claim arises from where the services are performed and is unaffected by residence. Because the residence credit is capped at the residence state's own liability, combined liability equals the greater of the two — so substituting a lower-tax residence reduces the residence-state component toward zero while leaving the total at Delaware's level. The binding variable is the work location, not the home one.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Pennsylvania requires a resident return reporting all income; Delaware requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Pennsylvania fall outside Delaware's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Delaware throughout.