Dover, DE

Across all occupations in the Dover, DE metropolitan area, the median wage is $46,690 a year ($22.45 an hour) and the mean $59,450, May 2025. That median is −8% against the US median of $50,980 and −11% against Delaware's $52,190. BLS counts 68,080 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is family medicine physicians; the largest is fast food and counter workers.

All occupations: Dover, DE vs Delaware and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Dover, DE area, Delaware and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Dover, DE	Hourly	$15.00	$17.05	$22.45	$33.73	$48.34	$28.58	68,080
Dover, DE	Annual	$31,200	$35,460	$46,690	$70,150	$100,550	$59,450	68,080
Delaware	Hourly	$15.22	$17.93	$25.09	$39.21	$61.39	$33.60	484,790
Delaware	Annual	$31,650	$37,300	$52,190	$81,560	$127,690	$69,880	484,790
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

255 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Delaware. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Dover, DE

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$233,980	$112.49	130
2	Marketing Managers	$182,640	$87.81	50
3	Sales Managers	$178,130	$85.64	110
4	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Delaware	$169,420	$81.45	200
5	Optometrists	$165,660	$79.64	30
6	Financial Managers in Delaware	$159,540	$76.70	170
7	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$159,330	$76.60	70
8	Pharmacists	$151,930	$73.05	90
9	Managers, All Other in Delaware	$147,500	$70.92	110
10	Physician Assistants	$129,190	$62.11	60
11	Industrial Production Managers	$127,720	$61.40	50
12	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary	$127,650	*	290
13	Financial Risk Specialists	$122,930	$59.10	40
13	Nurse Practitioners	$122,930	$59.10	190
15	Electrical Engineers	$122,410	$58.85	60
16	General and Operations Managers in Delaware	$119,990	$57.69	650
17	Administrative Services Managers	$118,620	$57.03	50
18	Construction Managers	$115,810	$55.68	50
19	Natural Sciences Managers	$114,800	$55.19	50
20	Medical and Health Services Managers	$114,610	$55.10	230

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Dover, DE

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Delaware	2,090	30.67	1.24	$31,200
2	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Delaware	2,070	30.47	1.10	$32,130
3	Cashiers in Delaware	2,010	29.52	1.49	$31,720
4	Retail Salespersons in Delaware	1,820	26.72	1.07	$34,060
5	Registered Nurses in Delaware	1,700	24.96	1.15	$91,620
6	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Delaware	1,440	21.17	1.60	$54,150
7	Office Clerks, General in Delaware	1,390	20.38	1.29	$37,850
8	Stockers and Order Fillers in Delaware	1,330	19.51	1.07	$39,150
9	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Delaware	1,310	19.24	1.35	$35,320
10	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Delaware	1,170	17.17	1.56	$45,360
11	Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Delaware	1,050	15.46	2.26	$76,710
12	Customer Service Representatives in Delaware	1,000	14.63	0.88	$42,120
13	Waiters and Waitresses in Delaware	970	14.25	0.98	$36,030
14	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Delaware	920	13.45	1.47	$37,170
15	Nursing Assistants in Delaware	890	13.11	1.41	$39,600
16	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Delaware	860	12.66	0.67	$36,180
17	First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers in Delaware	750	10.97	1.19	$67,210
18	Accountants and Auditors in Delaware	710	10.42	1.12	$72,730
19	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers in Delaware	660	9.75	1.35	$50,320
20	General and Operations Managers in Delaware	650	9.56	0.42	$119,990

Most concentrated occupations in Dover, DE

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians	6.11	180	2.69	$62,120
2	Urban and Regional Planners	6.00	120	1.71	$66,550
3	Court, Municipal, and License Clerks	4.43	350	5.12	$44,600
4	Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health	3.84	150	2.20	$59,370
5	Special Education Teachers, Secondary School	3.32	240	3.50	$66,330
6	Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria	2.70	520	7.66	$41,370
7	Family Medicine Physicians	2.66	130	1.84	$233,980
8	Bill and Account Collectors	2.47	170	2.52	$40,720
9	Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School	2.41	120	1.73	$76,880
10	Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors	2.27	350	5.15	$74,620

Occupation groups in Dover, DE

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$125,720	$136,570	2,930	43.02	0.60
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$89,410	$99,640	4,530	66.53	1.05
Computer and Mathematical	$88,490	$94,030	1,400	20.53	0.61
Legal	$84,340	$101,870	550	8.14	0.97
Architecture and Engineering	$80,620	$86,020	990	14.52	0.86
Business and Financial Operations	$73,800	$80,500	3,860	56.63	0.84
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$67,170	$73,930	850	12.44	1.31
Educational Instruction and Library	$60,890	$62,880	5,200	76.34	1.30
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$59,420	$61,900	2,530	37.18	0.95
Community and Social Service	$58,670	$61,050	1,550	22.80	1.33
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$58,190	$65,730	520	7.70	0.59
Protective Service	$55,250	$71,400	1,430	21.03	0.87
Construction and Extraction	$54,510	$58,630	2,330	34.22	0.83
Office and Administrative Support	$43,710	$47,020	8,850	130.03	1.14
Transportation and Material Moving	$40,680	$45,660	6,460	94.92	1.08
Production	$39,470	$45,730	3,590	52.73	0.96
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$39,000	$44,420	140	2.09	0.75
Healthcare Support	$35,610	$38,100	3,990	58.58	1.15
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$35,420	$38,140	2,410	35.42	1.21
Sales and Related	$35,380	$44,770	6,110	89.72	1.04
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$34,470	$37,600	6,340	93.07	1.06
Personal Care and Service	$33,820	$40,200	1,520	22.38	1.07

Every occupation in Delaware, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 255 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Dover, DE estimates (area 20100).

*: Wage estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Dover, DE area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.