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Towns / Delaware

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Rehoboth Beach is a tourist town of about 1,300 people in Sussex County, Delaware. It's growing fast: its population is up 15% since 2020. A typical home costs about 10.8 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, Philadelphia, is about 89 miles away as the crow flies.

Tourist townBoom town

Population
1,309
up 15% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$1,486,100
Sussex County prices up 20% since 2022
Household income
$137,500
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Delaware metros
101.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
5 miles
Lewes, DE
To Philadelphia
89 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 10.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood5 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 3.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 80.3 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Cape Henlopen High School, about 5 miles away.
  • A hospital close byBeebe Medical Center in Lewes, about 5 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhiladelphia is about 89 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 Rehoboth Beach 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

Tourist town. About 70% of homes are vacation or seasonal homes, a sign of a visitor economy. More restaurants, shops and weekend events than locals alone could support, with the small-town basics intact.

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
$1,486,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 20%Sussex County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,307 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$137,500U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
81%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,066 a yearDelaware: $1,768
Homes built before 1940
20%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
70%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 Rehoboth Beach 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
1,3092020: 1,135
Median age
62.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
44%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
7%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
71%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%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
Professional and business services (21%); schools, health care and social services (18%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (13%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
37%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
9%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Beebe Medical Center, Lewes, DE, about 5 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

1 public school in Rehoboth Beach, run by Cape Henlopen School District. The nearest public high school is Cape Henlopen High School, about 5 miles away.

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
86%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
97%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
30°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
29 a year
Nights at or below freezing
59 a year
Rain and melted snow
47.3 inches a year
Snow
10 inches a year
Elevation
19 feet

Weather station: Lewes (6 miles 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

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: Beebe Medical Center, Vineland, Philadelphia.

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

4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Assateague Island National Seashore27 miles

Read about Rehoboth Beach's history on Wikipedia.

Know Rehoboth Beach?

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

  • Henlopen Acres, DE159 people, 1 mile
  • Dewey Beach, DE416 people, 2 miles
  • Long Neck, DE (unincorporated)2,161 people, 8 miles
  • South Bethany, DE538 people, 14 miles
  • Dagsboro, DE983 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.