Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,959
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$6,421
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,185
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
$36,380
Kept after tax
$29,959
Worth in national money
$30,185
State rank
19
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Delaware is 19 of 46 states for this job, with a middle wage of $36,380. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Delaware this is lower-paid work. Of 445 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 403. 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 $36,380, take-home of $29,959 is worth roughly $30,185 in national money. The average comes to $42,500, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Delaware ranks 19 of 46 for personal care and service workers, all other at $36,380. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Delaware reports, personal care and service workers, all other ranks 403 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 personal care and service workers, all other, whose median is $36,380, the adjusted figure of $30,185 differs little from $29,959 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $42,500 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,530 |
| This salary | $36,380 |
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 | $29,959 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,411 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,140 |
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 | $34,573 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,588 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,380 as a midpoint for Delaware, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,290 and the ninetieth is $62,530 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Delaware's $29,959, worked from $36,380. 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 403 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,185 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 403.
- The Delaware median of $36,380 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,290 to $62,530. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Delaware take-home of $29,959, on $36,380 for work ranking 403 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 403 of 445 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,185, worked from $36,380, 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 403 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 $42,500, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $35,290 and the top tenth $62,530 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $30,185 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, $29,959 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 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 $42,500. 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 ($35,290) and the ninetieth ($62,530) 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 $30,185 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 $29,959 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.