Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,274
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$9,896
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,577
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
$50,170
Kept after tax
$40,274
Worth in national money
$40,577
State rank
30
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Delaware pays drywall and ceiling tile installers around $50,170 at the midpoint, 30 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Drywall and ceiling tile installers ranks 284 among 445 occupations Delaware publishes pay for.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $50,170, tax leaves $40,274, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $40,577 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $50,860, since top earners drag the number up.
- For drywall and ceiling tile installers the Delaware median is $50,170, ranking 30 of 49 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.
- Position 284 of 445 in Delaware places drywall and ceiling tile installers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for drywall and ceiling tile installers — median $50,170 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $40,274 retained, $40,577 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $50,860 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,390 |
| This salary | $50,170 |
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 | $40,274 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,492 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,150 |
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 | $47,410 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,809 |
| 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 drywall and ceiling tile installers in Delaware earn under $50,170 and half over. The published range runs $35,720 at the tenth percentile to $62,390 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Delaware's $40,274, worked from $50,170. 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 284 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,577 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 284.
- Figures are distribution medians for drywall and ceiling tile installers in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,720 to $62,390; 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.
- The Delaware take-home of $40,274, on $50,170 for work ranking 284 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 284 of 445 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,577, worked from $50,170, 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 284 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,720 and the top tenth $62,390, so most people doing this work in Delaware sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $40,577 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, $40,274 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,720 to $62,390) 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 $40,577 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 $40,274 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.