Museum Technicians and Conservators in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,231
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$6,849
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,466
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
$38,080
Kept after tax
$31,231
Worth in national money
$31,466
State rank
43
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Delaware pays this job a middle wage of $38,080, 43 of 45 states and about 25.97% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Delaware this is lower-paid work. Of 445 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 377. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Delaware costs about what the country costs, so from $38,080, take-home of $31,231 is worth roughly $31,466 in national money. The average comes to $46,520, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Delaware's $38,080 median for museum technicians and conservators places it 43 of 45 states, about 25.97% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Delaware reports, museum technicians and conservators ranks 377 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.
- Price parity in Delaware is near the national base, so for museum technicians and conservators, whose median is $38,080, the adjusted figure of $31,466 differs little from $31,231 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $46,520 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Museum Technicians and Conservators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,310 |
| This salary | $38,080 |
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 | $31,231 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,777 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,264 |
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 | $36,155 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,739 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Delaware earn less than $38,080. The published range is $35,810 up to $78,310, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $31,231, from $38,080, 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 377 of 445 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,466 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 377.
- Reported values are medians; for museum technicians and conservators in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,810 to $78,310. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,231 from $38,080. 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 377 of 445 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,466, worked from $38,080, 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 377 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 $46,520, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $35,810, the highest tenth $78,310, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $31,466 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $31,231 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $46,520. 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 ($35,810) and the ninetieth ($78,310) 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 $31,466 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 $31,231 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.