Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,674
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$28,386
26.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,259
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
$106,060
Kept after tax
$77,674
Worth in national money
$78,259
State rank
12
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Delaware pays this job a middle wage of $106,060, ranking 12 of 46 states and sitting about 1.69% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 445 occupations Delaware reports, this job comes in at 55 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $106,060 the take-home is $77,674, which is worth about $78,259 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $113,340, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Delaware's median for software quality assurance analysts and testers is $106,060, about 1.69% above the national figure and 12 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Software quality assurance analysts and testers ranks 55 of 445 occupations by median in Delaware, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for software quality assurance analysts and testers on its $106,060 median: $77,674 retained after tax becomes $78,259 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $113,340 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $106,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $143,880 |
| This salary | $106,060 |
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 | $77,674 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $83,443 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,610 |
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 | $97,860 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,512 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of software quality assurance analysts and testers in Delaware earn under $106,060 and half over. The published range runs $76,750 at the tenth percentile to $143,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $77,674, from $106,060, 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 55 of 445 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $78,259 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 55.
- Figures are distribution medians for software quality assurance analysts and testers in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $76,750 to $143,880; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $77,674 from $106,060. 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 55 of 445 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $78,259, worked from $106,060, 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 55 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $113,340, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $76,750 at the tenth percentile, $143,880 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 $78,259 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Delaware's own levy, $77,674 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $113,340. 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 ($76,750 to $143,880) 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 $78,259 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 $77,674 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.