Recreation Workers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,022
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$5,768
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,233
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
$33,790
Kept after tax
$28,022
Worth in national money
$28,233
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Delaware is 30 of 51 states for recreation workers, with a middle wage of $33,790. 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, recreation workers ranks 426. 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 $33,790, take-home of $28,022 is worth roughly $28,233 in national money. The average comes to $35,900, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Delaware ranks 30 of 51 for recreation workers at $33,790. 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, recreation workers ranks 426 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 recreation workers, whose median is $33,790, the adjusted figure of $28,233 differs little from $28,022 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $35,900 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,930 |
| This salary | $33,790 |
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 | $28,022 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,330 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,950 |
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 | $32,162 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,359 |
| 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 recreation workers in Delaware earn under $33,790 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $44,930 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $28,022, from $33,790, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 426 of 445 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Delaware, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,233, the adjusted value of that $33,790 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 426 of 445 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreation workers in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $44,930; 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.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $28,022 from $33,790. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 426 of 445 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $28,233 — the adjusted value of that $33,790 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 426 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 $35,900, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $44,930 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $28,233.
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 $28,022 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $35,900. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $44,930) 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 $28,233 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 $28,022 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.