Living in Dover, Delaware: homes, schools and costs

The book's checklist

Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 2.5% below the U.S. average in the Dover metro area.
More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
A safer neighborhood333 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 8.2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 57.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
Schools in town22 public schools: 13 elementary, 5 middle, 3 high schools and 1 other.
A hospital close byBayhealth Medical Center, Kent Campus is in town and has an emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityBaltimore is about 59 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Dover meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024: $258,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then: Up 15%Kent County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities: $1,344 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income: $60,199U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them: 47%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill: $1,470 a yearDelaware: $1,768
Homes built before 1940: 6%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010: 11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices: 97.5U.S. average = 100 (the Dover metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 15% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Dover metro area, not Dover alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate: 40,5922020: 39,417
Median age: 34.7 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 18%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more: 27%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year: 9%U.S.: 6%
College students: 15%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work: Schools, health care and social services (29%); retail (13%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (10%)
Unemployment rate: 8%U.S.: 5%
Average commute: 23 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home: 9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 15%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Bayhealth Medical Center, Kent Campus, Dover, DE, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

22 public schools in Dover, run by Capital School District and Caesar Rodney School District.

Colleges in or next to town: Delaware Technical Community College-Terry (10,000 to 19,999 students); Delaware State University (5,000 to 9,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Delaware's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet: 71%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription: 91%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low: 28°F
July average high: 87°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 25 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 79 a year
Rain and melted snow: 47.6 inches a year
Snow: 13 inches a year
Elevation: 20 feet

Weather station: Dover (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Vineland, NJCity of 63,00035

Baltimore, MDMetro of 2.9 million59

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Vineland, Baltimore.

Kent County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

18 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the John Dickinson House, the Dover Green Historic District and the Victorian Dover Historic District. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

First State National Historical Park40 miles
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine57 miles
Independence National Historical Park58 miles
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial58 miles
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site59 miles

Campus life. Check Delaware Technical Community College-Terry's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Dover's history on Wikipedia.

Know Dover?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Highland Acres, DE3,800 people, 3 miles
Wyoming, DE1,900 people, 4 miles
Rising Sun-Lebanon, DE4,200 people, 4 miles
Camden, DE4,200 people, 5 miles
Cheswold, DE2,700 people, 5 miles
Riverview, DE2,600 people, 9 miles

Smaller places

Kent Acres, DE (unincorporated)2,388 people, 2 miles
Rodney Village, DE (unincorporated)1,331 people, 2 miles
Little Creek, DE199 people, 4 miles
Leipsic, DE197 people, 6 miles
Woodside East, DE (unincorporated)2,274 people, 6 miles
Magnolia, DE291 people, 7 miles
Woodside, DE200 people, 7 miles
Viola, DE145 people, 9 miles

Sources

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.