Best PlacesLewes, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lewes, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lewes ranks 691st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lewes
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.
Lewes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Lewes ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 92% of cities
- QuietBetter than 87% of cities
Where Lewes ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lewes
A household needs to earn about $133,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lewes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $103,449, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Lewes' effective rate of 0.27%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lewes
Lewes runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lewes.
Who works in Lewes, and how
Work in Lewes centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lewes
Lewes has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of cities. The coast is about 9 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Lewes and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lewes, month by month
Lewes 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 Lewes
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lewes
Schools across Lewes average a B, better than 57% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lewes Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Love Creek Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Rehoboth Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beacon Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Mariner Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Millsboro Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Sussex Central High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Cape Henlopen High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lewes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lewes 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 Lewes against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lewes suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of cities and 23% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lewes
Is Lewes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lewes ranks 691st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on health care access, low property taxes, and civic engagement, and lowest on empty homes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lewes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $547,796. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $103,449 median income, cost of living beats 72% of cities.
Is Lewes safe?
Yes, Lewes is safer than 83% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $214 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lewes?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 28. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of cities.
Is Lewes good for families?
Schools beat 57% of cities, crime safety beats 83%, and childcare runs $749 a month.
Compare Lewes with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lewes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lewes 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.
Lewes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lewes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lewes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lewes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lewes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lewes 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.