What is the real (cost-adjusted) Financial Advisor salary in Delaware?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 98.8 for Delaware), the real-wage equivalent is $129,781 — what the $128,170 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $73,664 to $179,417.

What does the top of the Financial Advisor pay scale look like in Delaware?

The 90th percentile lands at $217,810. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $177,190.

Where does Delaware rank for Financial Advisor pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Delaware ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

What are the limits of these Financial Advisor salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Delaware?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Delaware.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Wirehouse W-2 vs independent RIA principal vs hybrid in Delaware?

BLS reports W-2 wages under SOC 13-2052, capturing wirehouse advisors (Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wells Fargo Advisors) and bank-channel advisors directly. Independent RIA principals — increasingly the dominant model in Delaware — operate as business owners taking K-1 partnership distributions and ownership equity, which are EXCLUDED from BLS. Hybrid RIAs (independent + insurance B/D affiliation) have mixed reporting. Net effect: the BLS figure on this page accurately represents employed wirehouse advisors and bank-channel reps; it materially understates total income for established RIA principals in Delaware once practice equity and distributions are factored in.

Delaware Financial Advisor Salary: BLS $128K Median, Real $130K (2026)

TL;DR

$128,170 is the BLS median wage for Financial Advisors in Delaware; $129,781 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
State ranks #4 nationally on nominal wage, #4 on real (RPP-adjusted) wage.
Mid-band cost of living: real and nominal wage are within a few percent of each other.
P25-P75 spread runs $72,750 to $177,190; P10 floor $54,910, P90 ceiling $217,810.

Wage breakdown — Delaware

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$54,910	$55,600
P25 (lower quartile)	$72,750	$73,664
P50 (median)	$128,170	$129,781
P75 (upper quartile)	$177,190	$179,417
P90 (top tier)	$217,810	$220,547
Mean	$133,620	$135,299
Employment	600 Financial Advisors in Delaware

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Delaware index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	98.8
Goods	97.3
Services	104.4
Rents	98.9

Delaware's overall RPP (98.8) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Delaware (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Financial Advisor)	$128,170	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$19,579	15.3% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$7,228	2.2–6.6% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$9,805	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$91,558	71.4% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$92,708	÷ (98.8 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Delaware state-tax burden means for Financial Advisor take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 5.6% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $91,558 (71.4% of gross). After the 98.8 RPP, real take-home is $92,708.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $102,140 for Financial Advisors with mean pay of $160,210 and total employment of 270,480. Delaware sits at #4 on nominal pay and #4 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. Nominal and real ranking are the same — cost of living and pay scale together.

Frequently asked questions

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Financial Advisor salary in Delaware?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 98.8 for Delaware), the real-wage equivalent is $129,781 — what the $128,170 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $73,664 to $179,417.
What does the top of the Financial Advisor pay scale look like in Delaware?: The 90th percentile lands at $217,810. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $177,190.
Where does Delaware rank for Financial Advisor pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Delaware ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
What are the limits of these Financial Advisor salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Delaware?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Delaware.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Wirehouse W-2 vs independent RIA principal vs hybrid in Delaware?: BLS reports W-2 wages under SOC 13-2052, capturing wirehouse advisors (Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wells Fargo Advisors) and bank-channel advisors directly. Independent RIA principals — increasingly the dominant model in Delaware — operate as business owners taking K-1 partnership distributions and ownership equity, which are EXCLUDED from BLS. Hybrid RIAs (independent + insurance B/D affiliation) have mixed reporting. Net effect: the BLS figure on this page accurately represents employed wirehouse advisors and bank-channel reps; it materially understates total income for established RIA principals in Delaware once practice equity and distributions are factored in.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 13-2052, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-08.

Cross-comparison: see how Delaware Financial Advisor pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.