Tax Preparers in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,613
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$10,347
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,926
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
$51,960
Kept after tax
$41,613
Worth in national money
$41,926
State rank
21
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware sits in the middle of the pack for tax preparers. The median is $51,960, ranking 21 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Tax preparers ranks 274 among 445 occupations Delaware publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $51,960 the take-home is $41,613, which is worth about $41,926 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $54,020, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Delaware occupies the middle band for tax preparers: a median of $51,960, ranking 21 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 274 of 445 in Delaware places tax preparers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Delaware's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for tax preparers on its $51,960 median: $41,613 retained after tax becomes $41,926 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $54,020 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,650 |
| This salary | $51,960 |
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 | $41,613 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,930 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,281 |
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 | $49,076 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,968 |
| 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 $51,960. The published range is $37,910 up to $74,650, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $41,613 take-home in Delaware comes from $51,960. 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 274 of 445.
- One number stands for prices across all of Delaware, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,926, the adjusted value of that $51,960 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 274 of 445 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for tax preparers in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,910 to $74,650. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $41,613, from $51,960, 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 274 of 445 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Delaware, so $41,926 — the adjusted value of that $51,960 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 274 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 $54,020, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,910 at the tenth percentile, $74,650 at the ninetieth.
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 $41,926.
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 $41,613 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 $54,020. 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 ($37,910 to $74,650) 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 $41,926 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 $41,613 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.