Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,660
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$6,320
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,883
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
$35,980
Kept after tax
$29,660
Worth in national money
$29,883
State rank
37
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Delaware pays this job a middle wage of $35,980, 37 of 46 states and about 6.86% 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, this job ranks 408. 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 $35,980, take-home of $29,660 is worth roughly $29,883 in national money. The average comes to $37,610, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Delaware's $35,980 median for switchboard operators, including answering service places it 37 of 46 states, about 6.86% 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, switchboard operators, including answering service ranks 408 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 switchboard operators, including answering service, whose median is $35,980, the adjusted figure of $29,883 differs little from $29,660 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $37,610 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,720 |
| This salary | $35,980 |
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 | $29,660 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,090 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,111 |
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 | $34,200 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,553 |
| 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 switchboard operators, including answering service in Delaware earn under $35,980 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $46,720 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,660 take-home in Delaware comes from $35,980. 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 408 of 445.
- One number stands for prices across all of Delaware, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,883, the adjusted value of that $35,980 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 408 of 445 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for switchboard operators, including answering service in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $46,720; 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.
- Retained pay of $29,660, from $35,980, 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 408 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $29,883 — the adjusted value of that $35,980 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 408 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,610, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,200 and the top tenth $46,720, 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 $29,883 in national terms.
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 $29,660.
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 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $37,610. 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 $46,720) 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 $29,883 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 $29,660 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.