Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$88,888
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$34,822
28.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$89,557
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
$123,710
Kept after tax
$88,888
Worth in national money
$89,557
State rank
2
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $123,710, which ranks 2 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 46.77% above the national middle.
- Within Delaware this is well-paid work. Of 445 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 44 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $123,710 the take-home is $88,888, which is worth about $89,557 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $120,960, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Delaware ranks 2 of 46 states publishing a median for sociology teachers, postsecondary, at $123,710 — about 46.77% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Delaware publishes a median for, sociology teachers, postsecondary sits 44 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 sociology teachers, postsecondary on its $123,710 median: $88,888 retained after tax becomes $89,557 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $120,960 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $123,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $216,680 |
| This salary | $123,710 |
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 | $88,888 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $95,822 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,051 |
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 | $113,799 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,556 |
| 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 $123,710. The published range is $59,090 up to $216,680, 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 $88,888, worked from $123,710. 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 44 of 445.
- One number stands for prices across all of Delaware, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $89,557, the adjusted value of that $123,710 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 44 of 445 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $59,090 to $216,680. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Delaware take-home of $88,888, on $123,710 for work ranking 44 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 44 of 445 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $89,557 — the adjusted value of that $123,710 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 44 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $59,090 and the top tenth $216,680 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $89,557 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 $88,888 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($59,090) and the ninetieth ($216,680) 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 $89,557 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 $88,888 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.