Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,980
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$9,460
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,273
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
$48,440
Kept after tax
$38,980
Worth in national money
$39,273
State rank
28
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $48,440, ranking 28 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 298 among 445 occupations Delaware publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $48,440 the take-home is $38,980, which is worth about $39,273 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $47,890, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Delaware occupies the middle band for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners: a median of $48,440, ranking 28 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 298 of 445 in Delaware places septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners on its $48,440 median: $38,980 retained after tax becomes $39,273 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $47,890 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,930 |
| This salary | $48,440 |
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 | $38,980 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,102 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,023 |
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 | $45,800 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,656 |
| 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 $48,440. The published range is $37,440 up to $56,930, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Delaware's $38,980, worked from $48,440. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 298 of 445.
- Two cautions on $39,273, the adjusted value of that $48,440 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 298 of 445 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,440 to $56,930. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Delaware take-home of $38,980, on $48,440 for work ranking 298 of 445 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 298 of 445 in the state.
- This $39,273 adjusted figure, worked from $48,440, 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 298 of 445 in the state. The occupation ranks 298 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,440 at the tenth percentile, $56,930 at the ninetieth.
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 $39,273 in national terms.
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 $38,980 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,440 to $56,930) 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 $39,273 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 $38,980 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.