Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,197
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$16,173
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,620
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
$72,370
Kept after tax
$56,197
Worth in national money
$56,620
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $72,370, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 7.22% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 445 occupations Delaware reports figures for, this is number 163.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $72,370 the take-home is $56,197, which is worth about $56,620 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $77,570, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Delaware ranks 41 of 51 for claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators, with a median of $72,370 — about 7.22% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Delaware's occupational distribution, claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators sits at 163 of 445 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators on its $72,370 median: $56,197 retained after tax becomes $56,620 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $77,570 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $116,710 |
| This salary | $72,370 |
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 | $56,197 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,742 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,859 |
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 | $67,330 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,607 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $72,370 as a midpoint for Delaware, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,430 and the ninetieth is $116,710 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $56,197 take-home in Delaware comes from $72,370. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 163 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,620 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 163.
- The Delaware median of $72,370 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,430 to $116,710. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $56,197, from $72,370, assumes a single Delaware filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 163 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,620, worked from $72,370, 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 163 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 $77,570 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $51,430 at the bottom tenth to $116,710 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Delaware sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $56,620 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $56,197 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $77,570. 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 ($51,430) and the ninetieth ($116,710) 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 $56,620 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 $56,197 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.