Jobs and pay in Delaware

The highest-paying occupations in Delaware

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

3 further occupations are paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes them only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: cardiologists, radiologists, surgeons, all other. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Dermatologists$442,120
2. Obstetricians and gynecologists$324,080
3. Physicians, all other$297,470
4. Psychiatrists$279,410
5. Family medicine physicians$228,000
6. Pediatricians, general$219,190
7. Chief executives$199,990
8. Financial managers$181,580
9. Architectural and engineering managers$181,190
10. Lawyers$173,510
11. Training and development managers$172,340
12. Podiatrists$170,560
13. Computer and information systems managers$168,500
14. Managers, all other$168,060
15. Sales engineers$167,200
16. Compensation and benefits managers$166,070
17. Commercial pilots$163,600
18. Optometrists$161,270
19. Economists$159,120
20. Human resources managers$153,890
21. Public relations managers$153,010
22. Industrial production managers$153,000
23. Pharmacists$152,880
24. Computer network architects$148,390
25. Database architects$147,800

Where the jobs actually are in Delaware

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Registered nurses14,290 employed
2. Retail salespersons13,400 employed
3. Fast food and counter workers13,310 employed
4. Home health and personal care aides11,820 employed
5. Cashiers11,450 employed
6. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners9,220 employed
7. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers9,040 employed
8. Waiters and waitresses7,580 employed
9. Customer service representatives7,470 employed
10. Office clerks, general7,230 employed
11. Stockers and order fillers7,080 employed
12. Accountants and auditors6,570 employed
13. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive6,320 employed
14. Nursing assistants5,530 employed
15. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers5,480 employed
16. Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers5,430 employed
17. Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education5,360 employed
18. Cooks, restaurant5,280 employed
19. Industrial truck and tractor operators5,230 employed
20. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand5,220 employed
21. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary5,040 employed
22. General and operations managers5,000 employed
23. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks4,600 employed
24. Medical secretaries and administrative assistants4,510 employed
25. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers4,200 employed

The best-paid Delaware work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Commercial pilots$163,600 · Postsecondary nondegree award
2. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$145,000 · High school diploma or equivalent
3. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$131,080 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Detectives and criminal investigators$122,050 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$103,510 · Associate's degree
6. Power plant operators$103,010 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Nuclear medicine technologists$100,470 · Associate's degree
8. Dental hygienists$98,910 · Associate's degree
9. Postmasters and mail superintendents$98,550 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Diagnostic medical sonographers$98,530 · Associate's degree
11. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$97,180 · High school diploma or equivalent
12. Telecommunications line installers and repairers$93,850 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Police and sheriff's patrol officers$92,970 · High school diploma or equivalent
14. Respiratory therapists$91,080 · Associate's degree
15. Cardiovascular technologists and technicians$87,640 · Associate's degree
16. Electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment$86,290 · Postsecondary nondegree award
17. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers$86,260 · High school diploma or equivalent
18. First-line supervisors of correctional officers$84,760 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Radiologic technologists and technicians$84,210 · Associate's degree
20. Aircraft mechanics and service technicians$83,550 · Postsecondary nondegree award
21. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers$83,250 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Precision instrument and equipment repairers, all other$82,200 · High school diploma or equivalent
23. Morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers$81,530 · Associate's degree
24. Legal support workers, all other$81,170 · Associate's degree
25. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers$81,100 · High school diploma or equivalent

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Delaware does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Delaware employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

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