The 10 Best Small Towns In Delaware For 2024


The best small towns in Delaware are Bethany Beach and Rehoboth Beach for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: January 12, 2024

You’ve seen these lists before. Best places to live in Delaware. Best sururbs in Delaware. Best counties in Delaware.

Etc., etc., etc.

But they all focus on major cities and towns in the First State, and no one pays attention to the little guy.

Well, that’s all about to change as we put together a list of the superb small towns in Delaware based on numbers–not opinions or hearsay.

We’ll dive right into our methodology in the next section, but first, we thought you might want to know which places in Delaware ranked the best based on Saturday Night Science.

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The 15 Best Small Towns To Live In Delaware For 2024

  1. Bethany Beach
  2. Rehoboth Beach
  3. Highland Acres
  4. St. Georges
  5. Greenville
  6. Townsend
  7. Lewes
  8. Millville
  9. Dover Base Housing
  10. Rising Sun-Lebanon
  11. Bellefonte
  12. Ocean View
  13. Milton
  14. Clayton
  15. Camden

Best Small Towns To Live In Delaware Map

What’s the best small town in Delaware? Bethany Beach is the best small town in Delaware based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Bethany Beach, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you–keep reading, and we’ll get to just why these small towns made our list.

For more reading on the First State check out:

The 15 Best Small Towns In Delaware For 2024

1. Bethany Beach

Bethany Beach, DE

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 1,064
Median Income: $104,167 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $832,286 (2nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%

2. Rehoboth Beach

Rehoboth Beach, DE

Source: Wikipedia User Dough4872 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 1,357
Median Income: $147,273 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $755,955 (3rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 7.0%

3. Highland Acres

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,892
Median Income: $104,762 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $345,928 (16th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%

4. St. Georges

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,304
Median Income: $161,346 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $523,540 (7th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%

5. Greenville

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,824
Median Income: $133,614 (4th Best)
Median Home Value: $1,145,551 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%

6. Townsend

Townsend, DE

Source: Wikipedia User Smallbones | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,728
Median Income: $147,917 (2nd Best)
Median Home Value: $451,746 (11th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%

7. Lewes

Lewes, DE

Source: Wikipedia User Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 3,339
Median Income: $87,458 (12th Best)
Median Home Value: $574,392 (4th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.0%

8. Millville

Millville, DE

Source: Wikipedia User Famartin | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,052
Median Income: $92,961 (9th Best)
Median Home Value: $526,843 (6th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%

9. Dover Base Housing

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,262
Median Income: $67,174 (20th Best)
Median Home Value: $0 (32nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%

10. Rising Sun-Lebanon

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 4,060
Median Income: $78,205 (14th Best)
Median Home Value: $500,177 (9th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.3%

11. Bellefonte

Bellefonte, DE

Source: Wikipedia User Jdbeard184 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 1,526
Median Income: $81,563 (13th Best)
Median Home Value: $284,702 (23rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%

12. Ocean View

Ocean View, DE

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 2,660
Median Income: $88,004 (10th Best)
Median Home Value: $522,372 (8th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%

13. Milton

Milton, DE

Source: Wikipedia User Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,349
Median Income: $67,763 (19th Best)
Median Home Value: $451,950 (10th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 7.4%

14. Clayton

Clayton, DE

Source: Wikipedia User Elemenel | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,978
Median Income: $98,367 (7th Best)
Median Home Value: $369,829 (13th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%

15. Camden

Camden, DE

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,914
Median Income: $60,549 (27th Best)
Median Home Value: $362,602 (14th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%

Best States In America

Methodology: How We Determined The Coolest Towns In Delaware

We threw a lot of criteria at this report to get the best, most complete results of the best small towns in Delaware possible.

Using the most recent data from the Census’s 2018-2022 American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Saturday Night Science, this is the criteria we used:

  • Population Density (Higher is better)
  • Lowest Unemployment Rates
  • Housing costs (Higher is better. More demand.)
  • Adjusted Median Income (Higher is better)
  • Highly Educated Adults (Higher is better)
  • Insurance Rates (Higher is better)
  • Commute Times (Lower is better)

We looked at places with populations lower than 5,000 people and greater than 1,000, of which there were many – 33 to be exact.

We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 33, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in Delaware. Top of that list — Bethany Beach.

This is our tenth time ranking the best small places to live in Delaware.

Summary: Science Can Tackle Any Issue, Even Small Ones

We said it once, and we’ll say it again — this list: it’s just science. We did the research, crunched the numbers, and it turns out these 15 small towns in Delaware are the best in which to live.

And who can argue with that?

The best small towns in Delaware are Bethany Beach, Rehoboth Beach, Highland Acres, St. Georges, Greenville, Townsend, Lewes, Millville, Dover Base Housing, and Rising Sun-Lebanon.

If you’re curious, here are the worst small towns in Delaware:

  1. Laurel
  2. Long Neck
  3. Delmar

For more Delaware reading, check out:

Best Small Towns In Delaware

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Value Unemployment Rate
1 Bethany Beach, DE 1,064 $104,167 2.2%
2 Rehoboth Beach, DE 1,357 $147,273 7.0%
3 Highland Acres, DE 3,892 $104,762 3.0%
4 St. Georges, DE 1,304 $161,346 3.0%
5 Greenville, DE 2,824 $133,614 3.5%
6 Townsend, DE 2,728 $147,917 2.5%
7 Lewes, DE 3,339 $87,458 1.0%
8 Millville, DE 2,052 $92,961 2.3%
9 Dover Base Housing, DE 3,262 $67,174 4.2%
10 Rising Sun-Lebanon, DE 4,060 $78,205 1.3%
11 Bellefonte, DE 1,526 $81,563 4.5%
12 Ocean View, DE 2,660 $88,004 1.5%
13 Milton, DE 3,349 $67,763 7.4%
14 Clayton, DE 3,978 $98,367 2.3%
15 Camden, DE 3,914 $60,549 3.5%
16 Selbyville, DE 2,907 $93,971 3.4%
17 Felton, DE 1,136 $55,536 5.7%
18 Riverview, DE 2,270 $87,708 1.8%
19 Wyoming, DE 1,888 $63,398 17.9%
20 Kent Acres, DE 2,124 $68,162 6.8%
21 Frederica, DE 1,001 $63,200 5.1%
22 Bridgeville, DE 2,590 $61,523 7.6%
23 Harrington, DE 3,770 $63,814 5.0%
24 Newport, DE 1,145 $62,875 5.3%
25 Delaware City, DE 1,932 $71,513 8.9%
26 Greenwood, DE 1,556 $68,418 3.7%
27 Rodney Village, DE 1,304 $33,534 4.9%
28 Dagsboro, DE 1,338 $65,625 5.0%
29 Cheswold, DE 1,639 $68,083 4.5%
30 Woodside East, DE 2,002 $53,517 22.3%
31 Delmar, DE 2,398 $55,625 5.2%
32 Long Neck, DE 2,983 $59,563 7.5%
33 Laurel, DE 3,954 $42,710 13.9%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Best Small Towns