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Towns / Delaware

Georgetown, Delaware

Georgetown is a small town of about 8,300 people in Sussex County, Delaware. It's the county seat. It's growing fast: its population is up 15% since 2020. A typical home costs about 5.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Baltimore, is about 78 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom townCounty seat

Population
8,291
up 15% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$281,400
Sussex County prices up 20% since 2022
Household income
$49,719
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Delaware metros
101.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
12 miles
Seaford, DE
To Baltimore
78 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 1.1% above the U.S. average in Delaware's metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 5.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood59 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 7.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 44.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byTidalhealth Nanticoke, INC. in Seaford, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBaltimore is about 78 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 Georgetown 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.

What kind of town

Boom town. The population is up 15% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$281,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 20%Sussex County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,410 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$49,719U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
50%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,096 a yearDelaware: $1,768
Homes built before 1940
12%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
18%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
101.1U.S. average = 100 (Delaware's metro areas)

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 20% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for Delaware's metro areas, not Georgetown 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
8,2912020: 7,220
Median age
35.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
30%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
16%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%

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
Construction (21%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (20%); professional and business services (16%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
29 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
17%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Tidalhealth Nanticoke, INC., Seaford, DE, about 12 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 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

5 public schools in Georgetown, run by Indian River School District and Sussex Academy.

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
56%U.S.: 76%

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
29°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
30 a year
Nights at or below freezing
83 a year
Rain and melted snow
46.3 inches a year
Snow
13 inches a year
Elevation
51 feet

Weather stations: Georgetown Sussex Co Ap (2 miles away) and Greenwood 2NE (13 miles away, rain and snow). 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

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: Tidalhealth Nanticoke, Vineland, Baltimore.

Sussex County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

23 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Assateague Island National Seashore29 miles
  • Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park48 miles

Read about Georgetown's history on Wikipedia.

Know Georgetown?

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

Smaller places

  • Ellendale, DE591 people, 9 miles
  • Lincoln, DE (unincorporated)1,873 people, 12 miles
  • Dagsboro, DE983 people, 12 miles
  • Long Neck, DE (unincorporated)2,161 people, 13 miles
  • Frankford, DE935 people, 14 miles
  • Bethel, DE274 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

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.