Sheet Metal Workers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,719
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$12,741
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,086
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
$61,460
Kept after tax
$48,719
Worth in national money
$49,086
State rank
27
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Delaware is 27 of 50 states for sheet metal workers, with a middle wage of $61,460. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Delaware, this sits in the middle: 214 of 445 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Delaware costs about what the country costs, so from $61,460, take-home of $48,719 is worth roughly $49,086 in national money. The average lands at $61,140, below the middle of the range.
- Delaware ranks 27 of 50 for sheet metal workers at $61,460. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Sheet metal workers ranks 214 of 445 occupations in Delaware by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Delaware is near the national base, so for sheet metal workers, whose median is $61,460, the adjusted figure of $49,086 differs little from $48,719 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $61,140 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sheet Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,790 |
| This salary | $61,460 |
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 | $48,719 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,563 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,977 |
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 | $57,920 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,809 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,460 as a midpoint for Delaware, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,290 and the ninetieth is $85,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $48,719, from $61,460, 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 214 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 $49,086, the adjusted value of that $61,460 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 214 of 445 in the state.
- The Delaware median of $61,460 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,290 to $85,790. 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 $48,719 from $61,460. 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 214 of 445 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $49,086 — the adjusted value of that $61,460 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 214 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $37,290, the highest tenth $85,790, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $49,086.
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 $48,719.
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 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,290) and the ninetieth ($85,790) 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 $49,086 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 $48,719 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.