Average salary in Delaware: $69,880 a year
The mean annual wage across every job BLS counts in Delaware, with the median, the pay spread, the job groups and the occupations behind it.
The average salary in Delaware is $69,880 a year ($33.60 an hour): that is the mean annual wage across 484,790 jobs in the BLS May 2025 survey. The median is $52,190 ($25.09 an hour), so half of those jobs paid less and half paid more. The mean sits above the median because a smaller number of very high wages pulls it up.
How Delaware compares with the United States
Delaware's mean salary is about level with the U.S. figure of $69,770; its median is $1,210 (2.4%) above the U.S. figure of $50,980. Among the 50 states and DC, Delaware ranks 18th by mean salary and 19th by median salary (1 = highest; calculated from the BLS figures).
| Measure | Delaware | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) salary | $69,880 | $69,770 |
| Median salary | $52,190 | $50,980 |
| Mean hourly wage | $33.60 | $33.54 |
| Median hourly wage | $25.09 | $24.51 |
| Jobs counted | 484,790 | 155,495,730 |
Prices matter as much as pay. BEA's regional price parity for Delaware in 2024 is 99.8, where the United States = 100: overall prices there were level with the national price level. A salary goes further where the index is lower.
What jobs in Delaware pay, from low to high
One job in ten in Delaware paid less than $31,650 a year, and one in ten paid more than $127,690. A quarter paid less than $37,300; a quarter paid more than $81,560.
| Area | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | $31,650 | $37,300 | $52,190 | $81,560 | $127,690 |
| United States | $31,200 | $37,590 | $50,980 | $80,520 | $128,560 |
Pay by job group in Delaware
The largest group in Delaware is office and administrative support, with 60,820 jobs (13% of the total, calculated). The best-paid group by median is management ($148,150); the lowest-paid is personal care and service ($34,530). Where BLS does not release a figure, the table says so.
| Job group | Jobs | Median salary | Mean (average) salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support | 60,820 | $48,330 | $52,610 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 45,960 | $35,720 | $39,220 |
| Sales and Related | 43,920 | $37,520 | $51,690 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 42,670 | $46,190 | $49,940 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 38,770 | $93,400 | $100,240 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 36,200 | $97,270 | $111,860 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 28,470 | $61,670 | $66,650 |
| Management | 25,020 | $148,150 | $166,570 |
| Healthcare Support | 24,030 | $37,860 | $40,340 |
| Production | 19,030 | $39,860 | $49,600 |
| Construction and Extraction | 18,650 | $59,360 | $62,660 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 16,850 | $36,420 | $39,500 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 16,300 | $61,480 | $65,520 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 14,490 | $113,600 | $117,790 |
| Personal Care and Service | 11,260 | $34,530 | $40,160 |
| Protective Service | 10,450 | $51,540 | $61,970 |
| Community and Social Service | 9,090 | $58,610 | $61,410 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 6,150 | $84,180 | $94,520 |
| Legal | 6,150 | $98,900 | $133,810 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 5,580 | $99,930 | $103,230 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 4,030 | $59,910 | $67,820 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 870 | $39,850 | $42,840 |
The occupations with the most jobs in Delaware
9 of the 12 largest occupations in Delaware with a published annual median paid a median below the all-jobs median of $52,190 (calculated from the BLS figures).
| Occupation | Jobs | Median salary |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurses | 14,290 | $99,520 |
| Retail Salespersons | 13,400 | $35,360 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 13,310 | $31,300 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 11,820 | $34,320 |
| Cashiers | 11,450 | $33,490 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 9,220 | $35,320 |
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 9,040 | $57,590 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | 7,580 | $36,880 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 7,470 | $48,190 |
| Office Clerks, General | 7,230 | $42,740 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 7,080 | $37,420 |
| Accountants and Auditors | 6,570 | $95,020 |
Go deeper
The best-paid occupations, ranked.
Open →Pay floorDelaware minimum wageThe state's hourly floor.
Open →PricesCost of living in DelawareWhat a salary buys there.
Open →Between jobsDelaware unemployment benefitsThe weekly maximum and weeks payable.
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Questions people ask
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How this page is built
Every pay figure is a BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimate for all occupations in Delaware (occupation code 00-0000), copied from BLS's data file; the job-group and occupation rows come from the same file. The average is BLS's mean wage (total wages divided by jobs); the median is the wage in the middle. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include commissions, tips, production bonuses and cost-of-living allowances, and leave out overtime premiums, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits. BLS turns hourly wages into annual ones at 2,080 hours (40 hours for 52 weeks). Ranks, differences and shares are TryHired calculations from the BLS figures. Price levels are BEA Regional Price Parities.
- Household income: this page reports pay per job, not household or family income, which the Census Bureau measures differently.
- Starting pay: the figures include experienced workers. Entry-level pay is usually lower.
- Take-home pay: every figure is before taxes and deductions.
- Self-employment and farm work: not covered by OEWS (see the FAQ).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates: national, state and metropolitan-area data files (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS technical notes: what the survey counts as wages and jobs.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released Feb 19, 2026).