Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,953
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$13,157
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,329
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
$63,110
Kept after tax
$49,953
Worth in national money
$50,329
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $63,110, ranking 19 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 199 among 445 occupations Delaware publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $63,110 the take-home is $49,953, which is worth about $50,329 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $69,860, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Delaware occupies the middle band for paralegals and legal assistants: a median of $63,110, ranking 19 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 199 of 445 in Delaware places paralegals and legal assistants 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.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for paralegals and legal assistants on its $63,110 median: $49,953 retained after tax becomes $50,329 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $69,860 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,390 |
| This salary | $63,110 |
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 | $49,953 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,889 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,097 |
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 | $59,456 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,955 |
| 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 $63,110. The published range is $48,880 up to $99,390, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,953 take-home in Delaware comes from $63,110. 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 199 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,329 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 199.
- Reported values are medians; for paralegals and legal assistants in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,880 to $99,390. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,953, from $63,110, 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 199 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,329, worked from $63,110, 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 199 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $69,860 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $48,880 and the top tenth $99,390 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $50,329.
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, $49,953 remains.
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.
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 $69,860. 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 ($48,880) and the ninetieth ($99,390) 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 $50,329 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 $49,953 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.