Industrial Engineers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$86,682
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$33,508
27.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$87,335
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
$120,190
Kept after tax
$86,682
Worth in national money
$87,335
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for industrial engineers is strong here. Delaware's middle earner gets $120,190, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 17.33% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Delaware. It ranks 47 out of 445 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $120,190 the take-home is $86,682, which is worth about $87,335 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $120,480, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For industrial engineers, Delaware sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $120,190, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 17.33% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within Delaware, industrial engineers ranks 47 of 445 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for industrial engineers on its $120,190 median: $86,682 retained after tax becomes $87,335 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $120,480 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Industrial Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $81,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $120,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $154,450 |
| This salary | $120,190 |
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 | $86,682 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $93,384 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,764 |
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 | $110,664 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,106 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $120,190 as a midpoint for Delaware, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $81,160 and the ninetieth is $154,450 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $86,682 take-home in Delaware comes from $120,190. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 47 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $87,335 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 47.
- The Delaware median of $120,190 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $81,160 to $154,450. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $86,682, from $120,190, assumes a single Delaware filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 47 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $87,335, worked from $120,190, 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 47 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $81,160 at the tenth percentile, $154,450 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Delaware sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $87,335 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $86,682.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($81,160 to $154,450) 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 $87,335 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 $86,682 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.