Commercial Pilots in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$113,520
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$50,080
30.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$114,374
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
$163,600
Kept after tax
$113,520
Worth in national money
$114,374
State rank
5
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware is one of the better-paying states for commercial pilots. The middle earner takes $163,600, which ranks 5 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 32.77% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 445 occupations Delaware reports, commercial pilots comes in at 13 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Delaware costs about what the country costs, so from $163,600, take-home of $113,520 is worth roughly $114,374 in national money. The average lands at $160,700, below the middle of the range.
- Delaware ranks 5 of 48 states publishing a median for commercial pilots, at $163,600 — about 32.77% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Commercial pilots ranks 13 of 445 occupations by median in Delaware, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Delaware is near the national base, so for commercial pilots, whose median is $163,600, the adjusted figure of $114,374 differs little from $113,520 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $160,700 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $83,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $163,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $264,590 |
| This salary | $163,600 |
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 | $113,520 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $123,087 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,291 |
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 | $149,604 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,474 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $163,600 as a midpoint for Delaware, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $83,180 and the ninetieth is $264,590 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $113,520, from $163,600, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 13 of 445 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Delaware, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $114,374, the adjusted value of that $163,600 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 13 of 445 in the state.
- The Delaware median of $163,600 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $83,180 to $264,590. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $113,520 from $163,600. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 13 of 445 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $114,374 — the adjusted value of that $163,600 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 13 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $83,180 at the bottom tenth to $264,590 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $114,374.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Delaware adds its own income tax on top — which is why $113,520 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($83,180) and the ninetieth ($264,590) 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 $114,374 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 $113,520 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.