Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,056
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$6,454
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,283
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
$36,510
Kept after tax
$30,056
Worth in national money
$30,283
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware sits in the middle of the pack for substitute teachers, short-term. The median is $36,510, ranking 30 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Delaware, this one sits low: 400 of 445 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $36,510 the take-home is $30,056, which is worth about $30,283 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $40,040, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Delaware occupies the middle band for substitute teachers, short-term: a median of $36,510, ranking 30 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Substitute teachers, short-term occupies position 400 of 445 in Delaware's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for substitute teachers, short-term on its $36,510 median: $30,056 retained after tax becomes $30,283 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $40,040 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,590 |
| This salary | $36,510 |
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 | $30,056 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,516 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,149 |
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 | $34,694 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,600 |
| 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 substitute teachers, short-term in Delaware earn under $36,510 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $50,590 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Delaware's $30,056, worked from $36,510. 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 400 of 445.
- One number stands for prices across all of Delaware, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,283, the adjusted value of that $36,510 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 400 of 445 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for substitute teachers, short-term in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $50,590; 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.
- The Delaware take-home of $30,056, on $36,510 for work ranking 400 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 400 of 445 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $30,283 — the adjusted value of that $36,510 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 400 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $40,040 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,200 and the top tenth $50,590, so most people doing this work in Delaware sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $30,283 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, $30,056 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $40,040. 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 ($31,200 to $50,590) 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 $30,283 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 $30,056 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.