Counter and Rental Clerks in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,620
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$6,980
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,858
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
$38,600
Kept after tax
$31,620
Worth in national money
$31,858
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware sits in the middle of the pack for counter and rental clerks. The median is $38,600, ranking 31 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Delaware, this one sits low: 370 of 445 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $38,600 the take-home is $31,620, which is worth about $31,858 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $42,650, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Delaware occupies the middle band for counter and rental clerks: a median of $38,600, ranking 31 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Counter and rental clerks occupies position 370 of 445 in Delaware's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for counter and rental clerks on its $38,600 median: $31,620 retained after tax becomes $31,858 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $42,650 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Counter and Rental Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,350 |
| This salary | $38,600 |
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 | $31,620 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,195 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,302 |
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 | $36,639 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,785 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of counter and rental clerks in Delaware earn under $38,600 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $59,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $31,620, from $38,600, 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 370 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 $31,858, the adjusted value of that $38,600 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 370 of 445 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for counter and rental clerks in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $59,350; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,620 from $38,600. 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 370 of 445 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $31,858 — the adjusted value of that $38,600 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 370 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 $42,650 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,200, the highest tenth $59,350, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Delaware is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $31,858 in national terms.
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, $31,620 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 $42,650. 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 ($59,350) 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 $31,858 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 $31,620 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.