Delaware prevailing wage
State law, federal determinations, and how to find the rate that applies
- Delaware has its own prevailing-wage law (29 Del. C. §6960), applying to public-works contracts over $500,000 new construction / $45,000 alteration-repair, administered by Delaware Dept. of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs.
- The U.S. Department of Labor has 11 active federal Davis-Bacon wage determinations covering 3 Delaware counties as of (latest revision date), each setting county rates by trade for federally funded construction.
- Market context: the average private construction worker in Delaware earned $1,667/week (≈ $41.67/hour) in Q4 2025, rank #20 of 51 states, per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - an industry average, not a prevailing-wage rate.
Applies where the State appropriated any part of the funds; rates set by county.
How to find the required rate
- State or locally funded project: use the rate schedules from Delaware Dept. of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs - official Delaware prevailing-wage portal.
- Federally funded project: find the county in the Delaware determination index and open the official SAM.gov document for your construction type.
- Read the classification line - base rate plus fringe (how to read a determination); compute totals and overtime with the calculator.
Federal determinations at a glance
Building: 3 · Heavy: 4 · Highway: 3 · Residential: 1 - every determination and the counties it covers are listed in the Delaware wage-determination index, each with its full rate schedule mirrored. Service contracts: 9 active SCA determinations for Delaware.
What construction actually pays here
Separate from any required rate: BLS data puts the average private construction wage in Delaware at $1,667/week (+2.6% YoY) in Q4 2025 - details and history on Delaware construction wages.
Learn the system
What a prevailing wage is · The Davis-Bacon Act · Certified payroll · Fringe calculator
Data on this page is from U.S. government public-domain sources - free to reuse with credit and a link to prevailingwageindex.com.