Photographers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,222
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$9,878
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,524
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
$50,100
Kept after tax
$40,222
Worth in national money
$40,524
State rank
6
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Delaware pays photographers a middle wage of $50,100, ranking 6 of 49 states and sitting about 12.18% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Delaware, this sits in the middle: 286 of 445 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $50,100 the take-home is $40,222, which is worth about $40,524 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $51,040, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Delaware's median for photographers is $50,100, about 12.18% above the national figure and 6 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Photographers ranks 286 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.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for photographers on its $50,100 median: $40,222 retained after tax becomes $40,524 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $51,040 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Photographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,170 |
| This salary | $50,100 |
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 | $40,222 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,435 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,145 |
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 | $47,345 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,803 |
| 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 $50,100. The published range is $32,980 up to $71,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $40,222 take-home in Delaware comes from $50,100. 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 286 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,524 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 286.
- Reported values are medians; for photographers in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,980 to $71,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $40,222, from $50,100, 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 286 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,524, worked from $50,100, 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 286 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $32,980, the highest tenth $71,170, 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 $40,524 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $40,222 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($32,980) and the ninetieth ($71,170) 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 $40,524 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 $40,222 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.