What is Delaware's new-employer SUI rate?

New employers in Delaware are generally assigned a standard new-employer unemployment insurance rate near 1.2 percent on the taxable wage base. After you build an experience history, the Division of Unemployment Insurance assigns an experience rate that can be higher or lower. Always use the exact rate on your annual notice.

What is the Delaware SUI taxable wage base?

Delaware unemployment insurance tax applies only to the first portion of each employee's annual wages — a taxable wage base near 10,500 dollars. Wages above the base are not subject to state UI tax, so the per-employee SUI cost is capped.

Does Delaware have an employer disability or paid-leave tax?

Delaware is launching a Paid Family and Medical Leave program with contributions phasing in. The general rule historically has been no separate employer SDI tax like California's. Check the current Delaware Paid Leave contribution rate, because it adds to employer cost once active.

How is net FUTA only 0.6 percent?

The gross federal unemployment tax rate is 6.0 percent on the first 7,000 dollars of wages, but employers in states that pay state UI on time receive a 5.4 percent credit. That leaves a net effective FUTA of 0.6 percent, or about 42 dollars per employee per year.

Does the employer pay the Medicare surtax?

No. Employers match the regular 1.45 percent Medicare tax on all wages, but the additional 0.9 percent Medicare surtax on high earners is withheld from the employee only. Employers never match the surtax.

Delaware Employer Payroll Tax Calculator

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Hiring in Delaware costs more than the salary you advertise. On top of wages, an employer owes federal FICA, net federal unemployment tax (FUTA), and Delaware state unemployment insurance (SUI). This calculator adds all of them so you can budget the true cost of an employee.

How it works

Each employer tax is applied to wages, capped at its own wage base:

Social Security = 6.2% × min(wages, $168,600)
Medicare        = 1.45% × wages          (no cap, no employer surtax)
FUTA (net)      = 0.6% × min(wages, $7,000)
Delaware SUI    = (your rate %) × min(wages, ~$10,500)
total           = SS + Medicare + FUTA + SUI

Social Security stops at the annual wage base. Medicare has no ceiling. FUTA is 0.6 percent net because timely state UI payments earn the 5.4 percent federal credit. Delaware SUI applies only to the first slice of wages, so it is capped per employee.

Example and tips

For a 50,000 dollar employee at a 1.2 percent SUI rate, the employer owes about 3,825 dollars in payroll tax — roughly 7.6 percent on top of wages — making the true cost near 53,800 dollars. Your real SUI rate is the single biggest variable: experienced employers in Delaware can be assigned rates well above or below the new-employer default, so always enter the figure from your annual rate notice rather than guessing.