Best PlacesMilton, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Milton, 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.
Milton ranks 9,385th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Milton
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.
Milton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Milton ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
Where Milton ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 29% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Milton
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Milton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,365, 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 Milton's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Milton
Milton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Milton.
Who works in Milton, and how
Work in Milton 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 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Milton
The coast is about 13 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Milton, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Milton, month by month
Milton 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 Milton
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 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Milton
Schools across Milton average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lewes Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Milton Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- H. O. Brittingham Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beacon Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Mariner Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Georgetown Middle SchoolD · 21% 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 Milton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Milton 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 Milton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Milton
Is Milton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Milton ranks 9,385th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, health care access, and low property taxes, 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 Milton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $427,882. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $91,365 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Milton safe?
Yes, Milton is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
Compare Milton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Milton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Milton 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.
Milton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Milton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Milton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Milton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Milton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Milton 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.