Best PlacesKent County, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kent County, 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.
Kent County ranks 1,092nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and big-city access. The cost shows up in the weather, an overheated housing market, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Kent County
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 Kent County
The parts of Kent County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Hartly
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and it is quieter.
Smyrna & Clayton
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Magnolia
Local pay stretches further, though prices have run up more.
Milford & Frederica
Scores close to Magnolia, except that commutes are longer here.
Felton & Harrington
More residents vote, though streets are more car-dependent.
Dover & Camden
Incomes run lower.
Kent County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Kent County's strengths and weaknesses
Kent County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Big-city access and transit follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, an overheated housing market, and car insurance costs hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Kent County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 88% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of counties
Where Kent County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 26% of counties
- School gradeC, better than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kent County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kent County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,142, 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 Kent County's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kent County
Kent County'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 Kent County.
Who works in Kent County, and how
Work in Kent County 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 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Kent County
Kent County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of counties and more parkland per resident than 73% of counties. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kent County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kent County growing, and who is moving in?
Kent County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Philadelphia, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kent County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kent County, month by month
Kent County sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Kent County
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kent County
Schools across Kent County average a C, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Forest East Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Lake Forest North Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Allen Frear Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dover Air Force Base Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- F. Niel Postlethwait Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Fred Fifer Iii Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Caesar Rodney High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Polytech High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Lake Forest High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kent County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kent County 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 Kent County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kent County suits
Common questions about living in Kent County
Is Kent County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kent County ranks 1,092nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on the weather and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kent County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $310,399. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $80,142 median income, cost of living beats 68% of counties.
Is Kent County safe?
Kent County is safer than 40% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $386 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kent County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 27. That works out to about 63 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kent County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hartly, Smyrna & Clayton, and Magnolia. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kent County good for families?
Schools beat 32% of counties, crime safety beats 40%, and childcare runs $749 a month.
Is Kent County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 68% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 58% of counties. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kent County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kent County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kent County 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.
Kent County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kent County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kent County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kent County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kent County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kent County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.