Lawyers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$119,639
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$53,871
31.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$120,540
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
$173,510
Kept after tax
$119,639
Worth in national money
$120,540
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware is one of the better-paying states for lawyers. The middle earner takes $173,510, which ranks 5 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 8.67% above the national middle.
- Within Delaware this is well-paid work. Of 445 occupations with published figures in the state, lawyers ranks 8 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Delaware costs about what the country costs, so from $173,510, take-home of $119,639 is worth roughly $120,540 in national money. The average comes to $199,970, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Delaware ranks 5 of 51 states publishing a median for lawyers, at $173,510 — about 8.67% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Delaware publishes a median for, lawyers sits 8 of 445 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Delaware is near the national base, so for lawyers, whose median is $173,510, the adjusted figure of $120,540 differs little from $119,639 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $199,970 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $101,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $173,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $354,910 |
| This salary | $173,510 |
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 | $119,639 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $129,860 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,095 |
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 | $158,557 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$18,618 |
| 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 lawyers in Delaware earn under $173,510 and half over. The published range runs $101,200 at the tenth percentile to $354,910 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $119,639 take-home in Delaware comes from $173,510. 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 8 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $120,540 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 8.
- Figures are distribution medians for lawyers in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $101,200 to $354,910; 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.
- Retained pay of $119,639, from $173,510, 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 8 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $120,540, worked from $173,510, 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 8 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $199,970, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $101,200 and the top tenth $354,910 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $120,540 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Delaware adds its own income tax on top — which is why $119,639 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $199,970. 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 ($101,200) and the ninetieth ($354,910) 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 $120,540 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 $119,639 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.