Best PlacesDelaware Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Delaware, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Delaware ranks 29th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 22 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and big-city access. The cost shows up in the weather, the schools, and internet speeds.
The best neighborhoods in Delaware
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.
The best areas in Delaware
The counties of Delaware, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Sussex County
It is quieter, crime runs lower, and more residents vote.
New Castle County
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Kent County
Prices have run up more and incomes run lower.
Delaware shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Delaware's strengths and weaknesses
Delaware lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure, big-city access, and low taxes carry most of that.
The one real hole is the weather, near the bottom of the country. The schools and internet speeds also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Delaware ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of states
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of states
- Healthcare accessBetter than 73% of states
- Low property taxBetter than 73% of states
Where Delaware ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of states
- School gradeC−, better than only 3% of states
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of states
- QuietBetter than only 16% of states
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 25% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Delaware
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Delaware home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,161, 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 Delaware's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Delaware
Delaware runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Delaware.
Who works in Delaware, and how
Work in Delaware centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Delaware
Delaware has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of states. Delaware has 28 miles of ocean coastline. That concentrates in some parts of Delaware and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Delaware, month by month
Delaware sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
The best schools in and around Delaware
Schools across Delaware average a C−, better than 3% of states.
Top elementary schools
- North Star Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Loss (olive B.) Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Lewes Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dover Air Force Base Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Beacon Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Waters (alfred G.) Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Charter School Of WilmingtonA+ · 87% proficient
- Calloway (cab) School Of The ArtsA− · 59% proficient
- Caesar Rodney High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Delaware school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Delaware 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 Delaware against the other 49 states.
Who Delaware suits
Common questions about living in Delaware
Is Delaware a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Delaware ranks 29th of 50 states. It scores highest on state infrastructure, big-city access, and low taxes, and lowest on the weather and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Delaware expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $360,096. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $93,161 median income, cost of living beats 69% of states.
Is Delaware safe?
Delaware is safer than 31% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Delaware?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 1% of states.
What are the best areas in Delaware?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sussex County, New Castle County, and Kent County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Delaware good for families?
Schools beat 3% of states, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $956 a month.
Is Delaware good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 69% of states, though advertised internet speeds beat only 7% of states. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Delaware with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Delaware. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Delaware 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.
Delaware detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Delaware: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Delaware: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Delaware: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Delaware: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Delaware 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.
- 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.