What Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks earn in Delaware County, PA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $52,710: the median annual pay for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Delaware County, PA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $25.34 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $55,250, which is 4.8% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 22,660 people working in this occupation across the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Delaware County, PA has roughly 579,222 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $39,220 a year ($18.86 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $75,250 or more ($36.18 an hour). That is a gap of $36,030 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $46,250 at the 25th percentile and $62,560 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.9 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $25.34 an hour or $52,710 a year at the median for Delaware County, PA. Before any deductions, that is $4,393 a month, $2,027 every two weeks and $1,014 each week. After taxes the same job pays $20.61 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Delaware County, PA compares
Compared with the Pennsylvania average
A worker in this occupation in Delaware County, PA earns $3,235 more than the Pennsylvania average of $49,475, a premium of 6.5%. Over a year that premium is worth $3,235 before tax and roughly $2,631 after tax. Within Pennsylvania, Delaware County, PA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks is $51,691 across the contiguous United States. At $52,710, Delaware County, PA pays $1,019 more, which is 2.0% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Delaware County, PA
Among the 636 occupations with published wages in Delaware County, PA, Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks ranks number 413 by median pay, ahead of about 35% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,470 a year, which is $120,760 more than the median for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks earning the Delaware County, PA median of $52,710, they add up to $9,847. The result is $42,863 of take-home pay a year ($3,572 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $36,960. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $4,197, an effective 8.0% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $3,268 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $764. FICA totals $4,032, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania income tax on this salary is $1,618 a year, or 3.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 39% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $135 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Delaware County, PA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Delaware County, PA show an average adjusted gross income of $115,702 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.3% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.4%, compared with the 8.0% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Delaware County, PA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Delaware County, PA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $42,863 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Delaware County, PA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,558 a month ($18,696 a year), and at $1,860 for two bedrooms. For Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks, a one-bedroom absorbs 43.6% of take-home pay and 35.5% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 6.5% of gross pay for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Delaware County, PA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Pennsylvania residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,877 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $535, for $2,412 in total. Gasoline in Pennsylvania averages $3.40 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,573.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $26,117 a year in Delaware County, PA. Subtract that from $42,863 of take-home pay and $16,746 remains, which is $1,396 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 31.8% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks afford to live in Delaware County, PA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $52,710 that ceiling is $1,318 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,558 is $240 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.96 an hour; the median for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks is $25.34, which is 15% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $20.61 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 17.4 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,860 a month means $930 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,536 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $24,282.
How fast you can save
At $1,396 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 8 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 16 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks pay in Delaware County, PA
How much do Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks make per hour in Delaware County, PA?
The median is $25.34 per hour, based on $52,710 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.86 at the 10th percentile to $36.18 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks take home after taxes in Delaware County, PA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $52,710 becomes $42,863 a year. That is $3,572 a month, $1,649 every two weeks or $824 a week.
How much tax do Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks pay in Delaware County, PA?
Total taxes are $9,847 a year, an effective rate of 18.7%: $4,197 federal income tax, $4,032 FICA and $1,618 Pennsylvania income tax.
Do Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks earn more in Delaware County, PA than elsewhere in Pennsylvania?
Yes. The local median of $52,710 is +6.5% versus the Pennsylvania average of $49,475, a difference of $3,235 a year.
Can Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks afford a one-bedroom apartment in Delaware County, PA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,558 a month against take-home pay of $3,572, which is 43.6% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,318 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Delaware County, PA?
About $1,396 a month ($16,746 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,117 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Delaware County, PA at the 30% guideline?
$29.96 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,696 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks is $25.34.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Pennsylvania rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.