Massage Therapists in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,782
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$12,088
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,134
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
$58,870
Kept after tax
$46,782
Worth in national money
$47,134
State rank
27
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Delaware is 27 of 50 states for massage therapists, with a middle wage of $58,870. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Massage therapists ranks 235 among 445 occupations Delaware publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Delaware costs about what the country costs, so from $58,870, take-home of $46,782 is worth roughly $47,134 in national money. The average comes to $63,340, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Delaware ranks 27 of 50 for massage therapists at $58,870. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 235 of 445 in Delaware places massage therapists 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.
- Price parity in Delaware is near the national base, so for massage therapists, whose median is $58,870, the adjusted figure of $47,134 differs little from $46,782 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $63,340 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Massage Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,220 |
| This salary | $58,870 |
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 | $46,782 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,482 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,787 |
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 | $55,509 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,580 |
| 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 massage therapists in Delaware earn under $58,870 and half over. The published range runs $46,250 at the tenth percentile to $98,220 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $46,782 take-home in Delaware comes from $58,870. 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 235 of 445.
- Two cautions on $47,134, the adjusted value of that $58,870 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Delaware. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 235 of 445 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for massage therapists in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,250 to $98,220; 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 $46,782, from $58,870, 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 235 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 50 for it.
- This $47,134 adjusted figure, worked from $58,870, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 235 of 445 in the state. The occupation ranks 235 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $63,340, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $46,250 and the top tenth $98,220 — 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 $47,134 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 $46,782 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $63,340. 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 ($46,250) and the ninetieth ($98,220) 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 $47,134 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 $46,782 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.