Best PlacesElsmere, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elsmere, 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.
Elsmere ranks 27,205th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elsmere
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.
Elsmere's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elsmere ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
Where Elsmere ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elsmere
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elsmere home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,887, 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 Elsmere's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elsmere
Elsmere runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elsmere.
Who works in Elsmere, and how
Work in Elsmere 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 79%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Elsmere
Elsmere has more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. The coast is about 27 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Elsmere and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elsmere, month by month
Elsmere sees roughly 60 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° |
Flying in and out of Elsmere
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 21 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elsmere
Schools across Elsmere average a D−, better than 2% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Baltz (austin D.) Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Richardson Park Elementary SchoolF · 7% proficient
- The Bayard SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dupont (alexis I.) Middle SchoolF · 11% proficient
- Stanton Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Glasgow High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Mckean (thomas) High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elsmere school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elsmere 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 Elsmere against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elsmere
Is Elsmere a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elsmere ranks 27,205th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, state infrastructure, and biking, and lowest on the schools and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elsmere expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,277. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $71,887 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Elsmere safe?
Elsmere is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $465 per resident a year.
Compare Elsmere with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elsmere. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elsmere 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.
Elsmere detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elsmere: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elsmere: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elsmere: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elsmere: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elsmere 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.