Delaware Paycheck Calculator & Income Tax Rates (2026)

Delaware applies 7 rates to taxable income — that is, income after the state standard deduction or exemption. Only the slice of income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate.

Delaware's effective state rate climbs with income as more of your salary lands in higher bands. The last column shows the state rate on your next dollar at each level.

Delaware's joint brackets are the same as single brackets, so the marriage effect here comes from the deduction and the federal side. On $100,000 a joint return keeps $79,879 versus $73,918 for a single filer.

Delaware taxes income through a graduated schedule that tops out quickly: after a $2,000 zero bracket, rates step from 2.2% to 3.9%, 4.8%, 5.2% and 5.55% before reaching 6.6% at just $60,000 of taxable income. Because the bracket thresholds have not been adjusted for inflation since the 1990s, most full-time workers pay the top rate on a large share of their earnings, and a $100,000 single filer pays an effective rate of about 5.2%. The schedule is the same for single and joint filers — brackets do not double for married couples — which is why Delaware lets spouses file separately on a combined return to run each income through the low brackets. Lawmakers debated adding new brackets above $125,000 in 2025; the structure for 2026 remains six taxable brackets with a 6.6% top rate. Delaware offsets the income tax with no sales tax at all: it is one of only three states, with Montana and Oregon, that tax wages broadly but tax no purchases.

Delaware's standard deduction was raised 75% for tax year 2024, to $5,700 for single filers and $11,400 for joint filers. Filers may instead itemize using federal Schedule A amounts, minus state income taxes. There are no personal exemptions; a $110 personal credit per filer and dependent takes their place. Delaware's earned income credit offers a choice: 4.5% of the federal credit refundable, or 20% nonrefundable. A volunteer firefighter credit and a child care credit round out the list.

Wilmington levies a 1.25% earned income tax on wages, salaries and net profits of everyone who lives or works in the city, withheld by employers; commuters from Pennsylvania or New Jersey pay it too. It is the only local income tax in Delaware — Dover, Newark and the beach towns have none. Wilmington also charges a monthly head tax on employers with more than five employees, which does not reach paychecks.

Delaware has no state or local sales tax, and its tax-free status has drawn shoppers from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey to Christiana Mall and the Route 13 corridor for decades. In its place the state charges businesses a gross receipts tax of roughly 0.1% to 0.75% depending on industry, which is baked into prices, and a 4.25% document fee on vehicle purchases that works much like a sales tax on cars. Groceries, clothing and everything else ring up tax-free.

Delaware's property taxes are very low, with an effective rate around 0.5–0.6% of market value, among the ten lowest nationally. All three counties completed court-ordered reassessments between 2024 and 2025 — New Castle County's first since 1983, Sussex County's first since 1974 — which shifted bills between neighborhoods. Homeowners 65 and older who have lived in Delaware at least ten years can claim a credit for 50% of school property taxes, up to roughly $400 a year.

Delaware does not tax Social Security. Residents 60 and older can exclude up to $12,500 per person of eligible retirement income — a broad category that includes pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, and also interest, dividends, capital gains and rental income, which few other states allow. Those under 60 get a $2,000 pension exclusion. Military retirement pay qualifies for the full $12,500 exclusion at any age, a change made in 2022. Filers 65 and older also receive an additional $2,500 standard deduction, and those 60 and older an extra $110 personal credit. A couple over 60 can therefore shield $25,000 of retirement income before Delaware's brackets apply — modest next to Georgia or Illinois, but meaningful alongside no sales tax.

Delaware works best for middle-income households and retirees who spend heavily: no sales tax and very low property taxes offset a 6.6% marginal rate that arrives at $60,000. Dual-income couples must file separately on a combined return to avoid stacking both salaries into the top bracket, which saves a two-earner couple roughly $1,000 a year. High W-2 earners fare worse than in neighboring Pennsylvania (3.07% flat) but better than in New Jersey above $500,000. Remote workers for Philadelphia employers avoid Philadelphia's wage tax if they never work in the city; Wilmington workers pay 1.25% either way.

The median household income in Delaware is $62,000, which is $49,259 a year ($4,105 a month) after all taxes. That is close to the national median. After adjusting for cost of living, the purchasing power of that take-home is equivalent to $48,293 in an average-cost area.

Delaware ranks #44 of 50 for raw take-home pay and #36 for cost-adjusted purchasing power at $100,000. The 8-place gap between the two reflects an above-average cost of living that erodes what the take-home actually buys. The best state (Alaska) leaves $79,125; the worst (Oregon) leaves $70,932. Delaware is $5,207 behind the leader.

City and Local Income Tax Calculators in Delaware

Delaware Tax Questions, Answered

Compare Delaware with Other Northeast States

Specific Salaries in Delaware