Registered Nurses in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,505
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$26,015
26.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,058
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
$99,520
Kept after tax
$73,505
Worth in national money
$74,058
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for registered nurses is strong here. Delaware's middle earner gets $99,520, putting the state 17 of 51 — about 2.02% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Delaware this is well-paid work. Of 445 occupations with published figures in the state, registered nurses ranks 81 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $99,520 the take-home is $73,505, which is worth about $74,058 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $99,460, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For registered nurses, Delaware sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $99,520, ranking 17 of 51 and running about 2.02% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation Delaware publishes a median for, registered nurses sits 81 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.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for registered nurses on its $99,520 median: $73,505 retained after tax becomes $74,058 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $99,460 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $78,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,860 |
| This salary | $99,520 |
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 | $73,505 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,842 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,076 |
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 | $91,933 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,774 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $99,520 as a midpoint for Delaware, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $78,340 and the ninetieth is $123,860 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $73,505, from $99,520, 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 81 of 445 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $74,058, the adjusted value of that $99,520 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Delaware. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 81 of 445 locally.
- The Delaware median of $99,520 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $78,340 to $123,860. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $73,505 from $99,520. 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 81 of 445 locally.
- This $74,058 adjusted figure, worked from $99,520, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 81 of 445 in the state. The occupation ranks 81 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $78,340 and the top tenth $123,860, so most people doing this work in Delaware sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $74,058 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $73,505.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($78,340 to $123,860) 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 $74,058 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 $73,505 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.