The 10 Best Small Towns In Delaware For 2026


The best small towns in Delaware are Greenville and Highland Acres for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: April 18, 2026

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 2026

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

Best Small Towns To Live In Delaware Map

What’s the best small town in Delaware? Greenville is the best small town in Delaware based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Greenville, 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 2026

1. Greenville

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,713
Median Income: $142,844 (2nd Best)
Median Home Value: $1,216,113 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%

2. Highland Acres

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,752
Median Income: $102,356 (7th Best)
Median Home Value: $350,698 (21st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%

3. St. Georges

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,530
Median Income: $131,553 (4th Best)
Median Home Value: $530,168 (7th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%

4. Townsend

Townsend, DE

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

7
/10

Population: 2,832
Median Income: $153,000 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $497,294 (8th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%

5. Rehoboth Beach

Rehoboth Beach, DE

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

8
/10

Population: 1,370
Median Income: $137,500 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $797,505 (2nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.7%

6. Lewes

Lewes, DE

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

9
/10

Population: 3,505
Median Income: $96,393 (9th Best)
Median Home Value: $588,290 (3rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%

7. Dover Base Housing

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,962
Median Income: $82,161 (16th Best)
Median Home Value: $0 (33rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 12.4%

8. Milton

Milton, DE

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

7
/10

Population: 3,567
Median Income: $80,875 (18th Best)
Median Home Value: $477,517 (9th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.2%

9. Camden

Camden, DE

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 4,106
Median Income: $63,267 (25th Best)
Median Home Value: $403,643 (14th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%

10. Clayton

Clayton, DE

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

7
/10

Population: 4,222
Median Income: $107,307 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $405,885 (13th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.3%

11. Bellefonte

Bellefonte, DE

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

7
/10

Population: 1,388
Median Income: $90,694 (13th Best)
Median Home Value: $296,538 (26th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9%

12. Rising Sun-Lebanon

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 4,163
Median Income: $113,529 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $446,270 (11th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.9%

13. Millville

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,430
Median Income: $99,776 (8th Best)
Median Home Value: $565,993 (4th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%

14. Ocean View

Ocean View, DE

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 2,851
Median Income: $91,500 (12th Best)
Median Home Value: $532,880 (5th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%

15. Frederica

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 1,062
Median Income: $80,924 (17th Best)
Median Home Value: $372,888 (17th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%

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 2020-2024 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 — Greenville.

This is our eleventh 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 Greenville, Highland Acres, St. Georges, Townsend, Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Dover Base Housing, Milton, Camden, and Clayton.

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

  1. Laurel
  2. Dagsboro
  3. Delmar

For more Delaware reading, check out:

Best Small Towns In Delaware

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Value Unemployment Rate
1 Greenville, DE 3,713 $142,844 4.2%
2 Highland Acres, DE 3,752 $102,356 4.5%
3 St. Georges, DE 1,530 $131,553 1.8%
4 Townsend, DE 2,832 $153,000 3.7%
5 Rehoboth Beach, DE 1,370 $137,500 6.7%
6 Lewes, DE 3,505 $96,393 4.1%
7 Dover Base Housing, DE 2,962 $82,161 12.4%
8 Milton, DE 3,567 $80,875 6.2%
9 Camden, DE 4,106 $63,267 1.5%
10 Clayton, DE 4,222 $107,307 1.3%
11 Bellefonte, DE 1,388 $90,694 4.9%
12 Rising Sun-Lebanon, DE 4,163 $113,529 0.9%
13 Millville, DE 2,430 $99,776 3.9%
14 Ocean View, DE 2,851 $91,500 2.6%
15 Frederica, DE 1,062 $80,924 3.4%
16 Frankford, DE 1,215 $77,206 0.2%
17 Felton, DE 1,294 $59,896 2.7%
18 Kent Acres, DE 2,388 $91,524 4.5%
19 Selbyville, DE 3,097 $75,592 3.8%
20 Riverview, DE 2,596 $93,162 3.2%
21 Harrington, DE 3,838 $72,679 2.9%
22 Rodney Village, DE 1,331 $43,558 3.3%
23 Delaware City, DE 1,950 $85,395 7.5%
24 Wyoming, DE 2,000 $69,603 12.3%
25 Cheswold, DE 2,143 $86,875 7.2%
26 Long Neck, DE 2,161 $56,745 1.9%
27 Greenwood, DE 1,564 $73,345 1.0%
28 Woodside East, DE 2,274 $61,142 11.9%
29 Blades, DE 1,071 $56,875 11.9%
30 Bridgeville, DE 2,745 $64,879 5.8%
31 Delmar, DE 2,412 $61,250 4.6%
32 Dagsboro, DE 1,376 $60,607 5.5%
33 Laurel, DE 4,152 $48,644 15.9%
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