Ophthalmic Medical Technicians in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,063
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$8,477
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,334
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
$44,540
Kept after tax
$36,063
Worth in national money
$36,334
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Delaware pays ophthalmic medical technicians around $44,540 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 445 occupations Delaware publishes, ophthalmic medical technicians lands at 338. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Delaware costs about what the country costs, so from $44,540, take-home of $36,063 is worth roughly $36,334 in national money. The average comes to $44,970, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For ophthalmic medical technicians the Delaware median is $44,540, ranking 28 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Delaware, this work ranks 338 of 445 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Delaware is near the national base, so for ophthalmic medical technicians, whose median is $44,540, the adjusted figure of $36,334 differs little from $36,063 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $44,970 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,250 |
| This salary | $44,540 |
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 | $36,063 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,968 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,737 |
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 | $42,169 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,311 |
| 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 $44,540. The published range is $33,610 up to $63,250, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Delaware's $36,063, worked from $44,540. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 338 of 445.
- Two cautions on $36,334, the adjusted value of that $44,540 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 338 of 445 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for ophthalmic medical technicians in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,610 to $63,250. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Delaware take-home of $36,063, on $44,540 for work ranking 338 of 445 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 338 of 445 in the state.
- This $36,334 adjusted figure, worked from $44,540, 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 338 of 445 in the state. The occupation ranks 338 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $33,610 at the tenth percentile, $63,250 at the ninetieth.
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 $36,334 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 $36,063 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,610 to $63,250) 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 $36,334 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 $36,063 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.