Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,473
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$6,257
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,695
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
$35,730
Kept after tax
$29,473
Worth in national money
$29,695
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Delaware is 21 of 51 states for hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks, with a middle wage of $35,730. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Delaware this is lower-paid work. Of 445 occupations the state publishes figures for, hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ranks 411. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $35,730 the take-home is $29,473, which is worth about $29,695 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $35,000, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Delaware ranks 21 of 51 for hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks at $35,730. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Delaware reports, hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ranks 411 of 445, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks on its $35,730 median: $29,473 retained after tax becomes $29,695 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $35,000 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,340 |
| This salary | $35,730 |
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 | $29,473 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,889 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,092 |
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 | $33,968 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,530 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,730 as a midpoint for Delaware, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $38,340 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $29,473, from $35,730, 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 411 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 $29,695, the adjusted value of that $35,730 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 411 of 445 in the state.
- The Delaware median of $35,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $38,340. 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 $29,473 from $35,730. 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 411 of 445 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $29,695 — the adjusted value of that $35,730 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 411 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $38,340 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $29,695.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Delaware then takes its own share, leaving $29,473.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $38,340) 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 $29,695 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 $29,473 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.