Dental Assistants in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,352
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$9,248
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,640
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
$47,600
Kept after tax
$38,352
Worth in national money
$38,640
State rank
29
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Delaware pays dental assistants around $47,600 at the midpoint, 29 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Delaware, this sits in the middle: 309 of 445 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $47,600, tax leaves $38,352, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $38,640 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $47,520.
- For dental assistants the Delaware median is $47,600, ranking 29 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Dental assistants ranks 309 of 445 occupations in Delaware by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for dental assistants — median $47,600 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $38,352 retained, $38,640 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $47,520 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,840 |
| This salary | $47,600 |
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 | $38,352 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,962 |
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 | $45,018 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,582 |
| 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 $47,600. The published range is $36,410 up to $56,840, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $38,352, from $47,600, 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 309 of 445 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,640 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 309.
- Reported values are medians; for dental assistants in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,410 to $56,840. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,352 from $47,600. 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 309 of 445 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,640, worked from $47,600, 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 309 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,410 at the tenth percentile, $56,840 at the ninetieth.
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 $38,640.
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, $38,352 remains.
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 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,410 to $56,840) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Delaware rather than a national figure.
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 $38,640 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 $38,352 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.