Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,329
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$23,641
25.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,851
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
$92,970
Kept after tax
$69,329
Worth in national money
$69,851
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Delaware pays this job a middle wage of $92,970, ranking 6 of 51 states and sitting about 21.99% above the national middle.
- Within Delaware this is well-paid work. Of 445 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 102 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $92,970, tax leaves $69,329, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $69,851 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $93,210, since top earners drag the number up.
- Delaware's median for police and sheriff's patrol officers is $92,970, about 21.99% above the national figure and 6 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Delaware publishes a median for, police and sheriff's patrol officers sits 102 of 445 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for police and sheriff's patrol officers — median $92,970 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $69,329 retained, $69,851 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $93,210 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $92,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,870 |
| This salary | $92,970 |
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 | $69,329 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,234 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,541 |
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 | $85,998 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,036 |
| 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 $92,970. The published range is $62,470 up to $130,870, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $69,329 take-home in Delaware comes from $92,970. 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 102 of 445.
- One number stands for prices across all of Delaware, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $69,851, the adjusted value of that $92,970 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 102 of 445 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for police and sheriff's patrol officers in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,470 to $130,870. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $69,329, from $92,970, 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 102 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $69,851 — the adjusted value of that $92,970 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 102 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $62,470 and the top tenth $130,870 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $69,851 in national terms.
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 $69,329.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($62,470) and the ninetieth ($130,870) 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 $69,851 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 $69,329 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.