Slaughterers and Meat Packers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,084
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$5,116
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,281
Delaware costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the bottom tenth 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
$31,200
Kept after tax
$26,084
Worth in national money
$26,281
State rank
45
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Delaware pays slaughterers and meat packers a middle wage of $31,200, 45 of 47 states and about 22.25% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Delaware this is lower-paid work. Of 445 occupations the state publishes figures for, slaughterers and meat packers ranks 444. 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 $31,200, take-home of $26,084 is worth roughly $26,281 in national money. The average comes to $31,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Delaware's $31,200 median for slaughterers and meat packers places it 45 of 47 states, about 22.25% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Delaware reports, slaughterers and meat packers ranks 444 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 slaughterers and meat packers, whose median is $31,200, the adjusted figure of $26,281 differs little from $26,084 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $31,620 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Slaughterers and Meat Packers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $31,910 |
| This salary | $31,200 |
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 | $26,084 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,249 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,761 |
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 | $29,750 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,129 |
| 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 $31,200. The published range is $31,200 up to $31,910, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $26,084 take-home in Delaware comes from $31,200. 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 444 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $26,281 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 444.
- Reported values are medians; for slaughterers and meat packers in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,200 to $31,910. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $26,084, from $31,200, 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 444 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $26,281, worked from $31,200, 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 444 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $31,910 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 $26,281.
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 $26,084.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $31,910) 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 $26,281 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 $26,084 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.