Best PlacesBlades, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blades, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Blades ranks 14,000th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Blades
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Blades' strengths and weaknesses
Where Blades ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
Where Blades ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 20% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Blades
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blades home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,250, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Blades' effective rate of 0.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blades
Blades's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blades.
Who works in Blades, and how
Work in Blades centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Blades
The coast is about 44 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Blades, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Blades, month by month
Blades sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Blades
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blades
Schools across Blades average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Seaford Central Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seaford Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Seaford Senior High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blades school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blades measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Blades against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Blades
Is Blades a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blades ranks 14,000th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, biking, and transit, and lowest on a weak job market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blades expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,900. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $81,250 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Blades safe?
Yes, Blades is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $146 per resident a year.
Compare Blades with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blades. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blades represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Blades detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blades: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blades: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blades: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blades: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blades detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.