Opticians, Dispensing in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,319
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$8,901
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,600
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
$46,220
Kept after tax
$37,319
Worth in national money
$37,600
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Delaware pays opticians, dispensing around $46,220 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Delaware, this sits in the middle: 325 of 445 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $46,220, tax leaves $37,319, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $37,600 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $46,190.
- For opticians, dispensing the Delaware median is $46,220, 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.
- Opticians, dispensing ranks 325 of 445 occupations in Delaware by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for opticians, dispensing — median $46,220 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $37,319 retained, $37,600 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $46,190 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,790 |
| This salary | $46,220 |
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 | $37,319 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,318 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,860 |
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 | $43,733 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,459 |
| 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 opticians, dispensing in Delaware earn under $46,220 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $60,790 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Delaware's $37,319, worked from $46,220. 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 325 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,600 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 325.
- Figures are distribution medians for opticians, dispensing in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $60,790; 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.
- The Delaware take-home of $37,319, on $46,220 for work ranking 325 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 325 of 445 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,600, worked from $46,220, 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 325 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $60,790 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $37,600 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 $37,319.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $60,790) 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 $37,600 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 $37,319 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.