Today, we're going to look at the safest places to live in Delaware.
Specifically, we wanted to know just how safe it is to live in Delaware. More importantly, where are the safest cities in The First State? So, we consulted the numbers. We analyzed 21 cities with over 2,000 residents. We looked at important factors like property crimes and violent crimes per capita for every place from New Castle to Delmar.
We discovered that Delaware has many amazing places and cities that can't be ignored. There's a reason the state has the most Fortune 500 companies in the U.S., and notables like former Vice President Joe Biden and Valerie Bertinelli have been singing the praises of places like Wilmington and Bethany Beach for years. These are not only some of the best places in the state, they are some of Delaware's safest places.
What city is the safest place to live in Delaware for 2024? According to the most recent FBI data, Ocean View is the safest place to live in The Small Wonder.
Check out the rest of our very safe Delaware cities to see how your city ranked.
For more reading on safe places to live in and around Delaware, check out:
Population: 2,851
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 35 (safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 631 (second safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Ocean View: Crime | Real Estate
With a little over 2,000 residents, the superb quality of life in this little city just two miles from the beach, is the reason that it is our firstsafest city in Delaware for 2024. The city's motto is 'A Place to Come Home To'. We would have to agree.
We think this is definitely why they scored a whopping 8.5/10 on our snackablity scale with an 8/10 safety score. They were second in both violent crimes and property crimes. They are always looking out for each other. The rest of Delaware could learn a lot from Ocean View.
Population: 4,003
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 74 (second safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 749 (third safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Clayton: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Located just outside of the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, is our second safest city in Delaware for 2024, Clayton. Clayton's residents are so busy having fun, they don't have time commit crime: property or violent.
This city in Kent County offers a big city vibe with a laid back suburban feel. There's a true sense of community in Clayton, and education is a top priority.
So grab the fam, pack the U Haul, and get a-movin' soon so you don't miss out any of their safe, family friendly activities scheduled for 2024.
Population: 3,548
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 112 (fourth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 450 (safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Milton: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Milton's gold star safety measures have landed them the third safest in Delaware. In terms of property crimes and violent crimes, they ranked safest and fourth safest, respectively.
With close to 3,000 residents, the superb quality of life in this little village in Sussex County is the reason that it is our number 3 safest city in The First State for 2024. The large number of educated residents in town make it a standout for any person looking to call Delaware home.
Milton is the kind of place that you can crack a Dogfish Head brew and kick back with your friends on your front porch. Good work Milton!
Population: 6,111
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 98 (third safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,603 (fifth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Elsmere: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Elsmere's slogan should be "Where It's Happening". Not only are they a super cool, super safe city just outside of Wilmington, they have a boatload of neighborhood watch groups, and boatload of gun stores within a ten minute drive.
More importantly, Elsmere scored a strong safety ranking with an emphasis on available jobs and education. We think they are definitely deserving of our fourth safest city in Delaware for 2024. So, if safe, family friendly communities that are happenin' is your cup of tea, you better hurry because Elsmere's homes are selling like hotcakes.
Population: 3,533
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 254 (fifth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,047 (fourth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Lewes: Data | Crime | Real Estate
In Lewes they love their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, their parks, and their safe neighborhoods. With characteristics like these, as well as low crime, it's no wonder they are our fifth safest city in Delaware for 2024.
Lewes scored a strong 9/10 on our safety snackability scale. They have been putting 'safety first' to the test since the beginning of Delaware. Heck, if you can keep your city safe as long as they have, you can claim the title "The First Town in the First State."
If this doesn't make you an "Lewes Believer," check out our story "Best Places to Live in Delaware." This Sussex County city is the real deal!
Population: 25,044
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 367 (seventh safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,816 (eighth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Middletown: Real Estate
Middletown is the middle-of-nowhere, Delaware; so of course it's are safe. They are our sixth safest city in the Blue Hen State for 2024.
Middletown is the kind of place where one can safely cruise the roads on bicycles and skateboards.It's also the kind of place where packages from Amazon won't get stolen from your front porch.
Do we think that's why they have the eighth safest property crimes and the seventh safest violent crimes? Absolutely.
Population: 31,015
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 274 (sixth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 2,115 (tenth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Newark: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Newark is our seventh safest city in Delaware for 2024. They are also the 6th oldest city in the Small Wonder.
You won't hear guns poppin' and see fists flying in this city. Newark's age brings experience, and this experience means they have plenty of safety measures in place to keep you and your family, you guessed it, safe.
Newark knows what they're doing. They scored a 7.5/10 on our safety snackability scale with an emphasis on jobs.
Population: 3,104
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 451 (tenth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,675 (sixth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Selbyville: Crime | Real Estate
Where DE State Road 54 meets DE State Road 17 is our eighth safest city in Delaware for 2024: Selbyville.
This Sussex County city, with close to 2500 residents should be called the 'The Best City to raise a family in Delaware,' too, because their park safety is on point.
And kudos to this Delaware/Maryland border town, their snackability rating is off the charts with their low crime and high safety score! They are also crushing it with their strong job market. They scored an 8.5/10. Busy people = less naughty people. If that doesn't say safe, we don't know what does.
Population: 2,761
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 507 (13th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,702 (seventh safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Bridgeville: Crime | Real Estate
In Bridgeville they love their wide open spaces, their parks, their safe neighborhoods, and their good, wholesome country living. We all know nothing says safe like showing' up to the annual 'Apple Scrapple Festival' with your gal by your side and a newly mounted rack, right?
Bridgeville is so safe, that the only crime here is a bad haircut or putting ketchup in our seafood boil. Its small city charm delivers big opportunities to all that are searching for a safe place to call home. They claim to be more then prepared to show you the good 'ol hometown pride that makes this part of the country famous and safe.
Population: 7,386
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 379 (eighth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 2,437 (13th safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Millsboro: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Rumor has it Wonder Woman flies over Millsboro every day on her safety rounds. Do we think that's why this Sussex County city is our ninth safest city in Millsboro? Of course!
It doesn't end there, folks. There's lots to do Millsboro. The residents, here, love to hang out at the beach, go on bike rides, have neighborhood picnics: they take every opportunity to get to know their community. They take safety very seriously.
We think this coastal community's motto should be: 'Feels Like Home'. They are super welcoming; and in true Delaware fashion, they would be happy if you called it home.
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in Delaware are the safest, we wanted to rely on something other than speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's most recent crime report in Delaware.
Specifically, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, which summarizes the number of property and violent crimes in each city annually. We used two criteria:
For example, there were 19 crimes committed in Ocean View, with a reported population of 2,851. That means the number of crimes per capita is 0.0067, which translates into a 1 in 150 chance of being the victim of a crime.
We only looked at Delaware cities that have populations of more than 2,000. This filter left us with 21 of the biggest cities in Delaware to rank.
We ranked each city for each criterion from 1 to 21 where 1 in any particular category is the safest.
Next, we averaged each place's two criteria to create a Safety Index. We crowned the place with the lowest overall Safety Score, "The Safest Place In Delaware," with any ties going to the bigger city.
The safest city in Delaware, based on our criteria, is Ocean View. The most dangerous city in Delaware? Seaford, where residents had a 1 in 13 chance of being the victim of a crime.
This article has been update for 2024. This report marks our tenth time ranking the safest places to live in Delaware. All the data comes from the FBI's Crime In The USA 2022 report.
Looking at the data, you can tell that Ocean View is as safe as they come in Delaware, according to science and data.
But as most Delaware residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So just make sure you're informed ahead of time.
The safest places in Delaware are .
Here's a look at the most dangerous cities in Delaware according to the data:
Rank | City | Population | Violent Crimes Per 100k | Property Crimes Per 100k | Murders Per 100k | Murders |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ocean View, DE | 2,851 | 35 | 631 | 0 | 0 |
2 | Clayton, DE | 4,003 | 74 | 749 | 0 | 0 |
3 | Milton, DE | 3,548 | 112 | 450 | 0 | 0 |
4 | Elsmere, DE | 6,111 | 98 | 1,603 | 0 | 0 |
5 | Lewes, DE | 3,533 | 254 | 1,047 | 0 | 0 |
6 | Middletown, DE | 25,044 | 367 | 1,816 | 0 | 0 |
7 | Newark, DE | 31,015 | 274 | 2,115 | 0 | 0 |
8 | Selbyville, DE | 3,104 | 451 | 1,675 | 0 | 0 |
9 | Bridgeville, DE | 2,761 | 507 | 1,702 | 0 | 0 |
10 | Millsboro, DE | 7,386 | 379 | 2,437 | 0 | 0 |
11 | Delmar, DE | 2,178 | 505 | 1,974 | 0 | 0 |
12 | Smyrna, DE | 13,361 | 516 | 2,148 | 0 | 0 |
13 | New Castle, DE | 5,465 | 494 | 3,568 | 0 | 0 |
14 | Harrington, DE | 3,785 | 634 | 2,140 | 0 | 0 |
15 | Camden, DE | 4,852 | 432 | 4,967 | 20 | 1 |
16 | Milford, DE | 13,326 | 675 | 3,594 | 15 | 2 |
17 | Wilmington, DE | 70,625 | 1,200 | 3,372 | 25 | 18 |
18 | Georgetown, DE | 7,667 | 847 | 3,612 | 39 | 3 |
19 | Dover, DE | 38,438 | 819 | 4,529 | 7 | 3 |
20 | Laurel, DE | 4,178 | 1,651 | 3,853 | 0 | 0 |
21 | Seaford, DE | 8,526 | 961 | 6,251 | 11 | 1 |
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.
We founded HomeSnacks to provide insights your real estate agent would neglect to mention.
By presenting data from presentable sources and utlizing Saturday Night Science, we provide detailed insights into cities and neighborhoods.
Learn more about Nick and Chris.
HomeSnacks is based in Durham, NC.
We aim to deliver bite-sized pieces of infotainment about where you live.
We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine quality of life for places across the nation.