Retail Salespersons in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,196
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$6,164
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,416
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
$35,360
Kept after tax
$29,196
Worth in national money
$29,416
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware sits in the middle of the pack for retail salespersons. The median is $35,360, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Delaware, this one sits low: 413 of 445 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $35,360, tax leaves $29,196, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $29,416 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $37,390, since top earners drag the number up.
- Delaware occupies the middle band for retail salespersons: a median of $35,360, ranking 21 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Retail salespersons occupies position 413 of 445 in Delaware's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for retail salespersons — median $35,360 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $29,196 retained, $29,416 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $37,390 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,420 |
| This salary | $35,360 |
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 | $29,196 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,592 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,065 |
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 | $33,623 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,498 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,360 as a midpoint for Delaware, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $47,420 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,196 take-home in Delaware comes from $35,360. 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 413 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,416 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 413.
- The Delaware median of $35,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $47,420. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $29,196, from $35,360, 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 413 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,416, worked from $35,360, 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 413 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,390, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,200 at the tenth percentile, $47,420 at the ninetieth.
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 $29,416.
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 $29,196.
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 $37,390. 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 $47,420) 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 $29,416 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 $29,196 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.