Accountant.
Wilmington.
$86,000
median salary, 5% above the national average
$68,000 to $111,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
If you are evaluating an Accountant offer in Wilmington, DE, here is the reality: $68,000 to $111,000, with $86,000 as the midpoint. 5% above the national average. CPA licensure, industry specialization, and company size are the biggest factors. Do not accept the first number. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Accountant in Wilmington, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $85,990 for Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, based on 29,370 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$59,560
25th percentile
$73,370
Median
$85,990
75th percentile
$110,420
90th percentile
$139,420
Workers surveyed
29,370
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) rather than Accountant specifically. The Wilmington range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such. Wilmington is reported by BLS within the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area.
View the BLS source for SOC 13-2011Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $77,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$56,000
to $69,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$73,000
to $90,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$95,000
to $112,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$108,000
to $133,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $19,000 to the total package.
Base
$86,000
Equity
$10,000
Bonus
$7,000
Signing
$2,000
Estimated total: $105,000
How Wilmington compares.
Wilmington, DE
$86,000
Cost of living: 2% above average
National Average
$82,000
Wilmington is $4,000 above
Accountant salary by city.
Salary by role in Wilmington.
What you should know.
Here is what the Accountant market actually looks like in Wilmington. Wilmington is a corporate law and financial services hub, home to most U.S. credit card companies thanks to Delaware's favorable incorporation laws. The city's compact size belies its outsized role in banking, legal services, and corporate governance. Chemical and pharmaceutical companies also maintain a strong presence. CPA licensure, industry specialization, and company size are the biggest factors. Public accounting at Big Four firms pays well at entry but demands long hours. Corporate accountants in tech and finance earn 10 to 20% more than those in other industries. Experience with complex areas like international tax, M&A, or revenue recognition commands premiums.
Staff accountants start at $52,000 to $68,000, advancing to senior accountant at $70,000 to $90,000 in two to three years. Accounting managers earn $90,000 to $120,000. Controllers reach $130,000 to $175,000, and CFOs at mid size companies earn $200,000 to $350,000. Public accounting partnership offers the highest ceiling. In Wilmington, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Bonuses of 5 to 15% are typical in corporate roles, rising to 15 to 25%+ in public accounting at manager level. Benefits include CPA exam reimbursement, busy season bonuses, and in public firms, a path to partnership with profit sharing. Tech companies add equity grants of $5,000 to $25,000. And on the tax side: delaware has a top income tax rate of 6.6% but no state sales tax. Wilmington has a city wage tax of 1.25%. The no sales tax benefit partially offsets the income tax burden. When someone quotes you $86,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Leverage Delaware's corporate density. Banks and legal firms here pay competitively to retain talent that might otherwise commute to Philadelphia or New York. The range for Accountants in Wilmington runs from $68,000 to $111,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
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Common questions.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Accountant Salary in Wilmington, DE." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/accountant/wilmington
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