Bartenders in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,303
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$6,537
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,531
Delaware costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Delaware — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$36,840
Kept after tax
$30,303
Worth in national money
$30,531
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Delaware pays bartenders a middle wage of $36,840, ranking 16 of 51 states and sitting about 7.28% above the national middle.
- Within Delaware this is lower-paid work. Of 445 occupations the state publishes figures for, bartenders ranks 395. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Delaware costs about what the country costs, so from $36,840, take-home of $30,303 is worth roughly $30,531 in national money. The average comes to $42,890, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Delaware's median for bartenders is $36,840, about 7.28% above the national figure and 16 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Delaware reports, bartenders ranks 395 of 445, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Delaware is near the national base, so for bartenders, whose median is $36,840, the adjusted figure of $30,531 differs little from $30,303 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $42,890 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Bartenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,420 |
| This salary | $36,840 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Delaware | $30,303 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,781 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,174 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $35,001 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,629 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Delaware earn less than $36,840. The published range is $31,200 up to $60,420, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Delaware's $30,303, worked from $36,840. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 395 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,531 uses one figure for the whole of Delaware. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 445 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 395.
- Reported values are medians; for bartenders in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,200 to $60,420. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Delaware take-home of $30,303, on $36,840 for work ranking 395 of 445 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 395 of 445 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,531, worked from $36,840, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Delaware address, on work sitting at 395 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $42,890 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,200 and the top tenth $60,420 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $30,531.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Delaware's own levy, $30,303 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Delaware is $42,890. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,200) and the ninetieth ($60,420) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Delaware's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $30,531 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $30,303 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Delaware income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.