Is being in an area of Delaware that’s growing quickly a good thing or a bad thing?
Depends on who you ask.
Some want bigger, more exciting cities like Wilmington and Dover, while others want peace and quiet like in New Castle and Elsmere, thank you very much.
But today, we’re going to put opinions aside and look at the cold, hard facts — since 2010, which cities in Delaware have grown the fastest.
After getting knee-deep in the Census’s American Community Survey using Saturday Night Science, we emerged with this set of cities in the First State that have people climbing over each other to get in.
Delaware gained a net 6,855 people from other states in the year ending July 2025 — 21st in the nation for domestic migration; the full moving statistics breakdown shows who’s coming and going.
104.0% growth since 2010 · 3,784 net new residents
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
48.1% growth since 2010 · 8,013 net new residents
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
41.1% growth since 2010 · 3,835 net new residents
Located in
New Castle County, Delaware
Smyrna is a town in Kent and New Castle counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the Census Bureau, as of 2010, the population of the town is 10,023.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
39.5% growth since 2010 · 3,623 net new residents
Located in
Sussex County, Delaware
Milford is a city in Kent and Sussex counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 9,559.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
24.5% growth since 2010 · 1,506 net new residents
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
22.2% growth since 2010 · 1,540 net new residents
Located in
Sussex County, Delaware
Seaford is a city located along the Nanticoke River in Sussex County, Delaware. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the city is 6,928, an increase of 3.4% from the 2000 census. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
19.3% growth since 2010 · 3,622 net new residents
Located in
New Castle County, Delaware
Bear is a census-designated place in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 17,593 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
18.1% growth since 2010 · 971 net new residents
Located in
New Castle County, Delaware
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
17.0% growth since 2010 · 1,275 net new residents
Located in
New Castle County, Delaware
Claymont is a census-designated place in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 8,253 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12.3% growth since 2010 · 4,363 net new residents
Located in
Kent County, Delaware
Dover is the capital and second-largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, DE Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD Combined Statistical Area. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware River coastal plain. It was named by William Penn of Dover in Kent, England. As of 2010, the city had a population of 36,047.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Delaware’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Delaware’s growth is happening
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Measured The Fastest Growing Cities In the First State for 2026
To figure out which cities are growing the most, we used Saturday Night Science to look at the growth rates for cities since the beginning of the decade, according to the American Community Survey put out by the census every year. Specifically:
- Current Population
- Population in 2010
- Growth rate from 2010 to Current (the latest available data, which came out in Dec 2024)
We ranked all 21 Delaware cities with a population over 5,000 people from highest growth rate to lowest.
The city with the highest growth rate during this time was crowned the fastest-growing city in the First State.
And for those of you who are a little rusty with their statistics, you can calculate the growth rate by the following formula: [Current Population – Population 2010] / [Population 2010].
The data has been updated for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the fastest growing cities in Delaware.
The full plate
Fastest Growing Places In Delaware For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Population 2010 | Growth | Absolute Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Millsboro | 7,424 | 3,640 | 104.0% | 3,784 |
| 2 | Middl | 24,661 | 16,648 | 48.1% | 8,013 |
| 3 | Smyrna | 13,165 | 9,330 | 41.1% | 3,835 |
| 4 | Milford | 12,803 | 9,180 | 39.5% | 3,623 |
| 5 | Georg | 7,660 | 6,154 | 24.5% | 1,506 |
| 6 | Seaford | 8,485 | 6,945 | 22.2% | 1,540 |
| 7 | Bear | 22,370 | 18,748 | 19.3% | 3,622 |
| 8 | Edgemoor | 6,349 | 5,378 | 18.1% | 971 |
| 9 | Claymont | 8,786 | 7,511 | 17.0% | 1,275 |
| 10 | Dover | 39,837 | 35,474 | 12.3% | 4,363 |
| 11 | Pike Creek Valley | 12,431 | 11,400 | 9.0% | 1,031 |
| 12 | New Castle | 5,579 | 5,250 | 6.3% | 329 |
| 13 | Brookside | 15,115 | 14,365 | 5.2% | 750 |
| 14 | Wilmington Manor | 8,214 | 7,865 | 4.4% | 349 |
| 15 | Hockessin | 13,439 | 12,919 | 4.0% | 520 |
| 16 | Elsmere | 6,203 | 6,103 | 1.6% | 100 |
| 17 | Wilmington | 71,727 | 71,437 | 0.4% | 290 |
| 18 | Glasgow | 15,546 | 15,648 | -0.7% | -102 |
| 19 | North Star | 7,834 | 7,929 | -1.2% | -95 |
| 20 | Newark | 30,330 | 31,110 | -2.5% | -780 |
| 21 | Pike Creek | 7,129 | 8,025 | -11.2% | -896 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS, 2010-current. 21 Delaware cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: These Places Grew Up So Fast In Delaware, You Know?
So there you have it, the fastest growing cities in Delaware are led by Millsboro which has been growing at a blistering pace this decade relative to other cities and towns around the state.
The fastest-growing cities in Delaware are Millsboro, Middl, Smyrna, Milford, Georg, Seaford, Bear, Edgemoor, Claymont, and Dover.
It’ll be interesting to see if these places can keep growing at the same rate over the next couple of years. We’ll be here to let you know! Not sold on Delaware? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Fastest Growing Cities In Delaware FAQs
What is the fastest-growing city in Delaware?
Millsboro is the fastest-growing city in Delaware for 2026, based on population change since 2010. Middl and Smyrna are growing nearly as fast.
What are the top 10 fastest-growing cities in Delaware?
The fastest-growing cities in Delaware are Millsboro, Middl, Smyrna, Milford, Georg, Seaford, Bear, Edgemoor, Claymont, and Dover. We ranked all 21 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
How do you measure growth?
Growth is the percent change in population from the 2010 Census to the latest American Community Survey estimates. No projections, no vibes — just how many more people actually live there now.
What is the slowest-growing city on the list?
Pike Creek posts the smallest population change of the 21 Delaware cities we ranked. Slow growth is not automatically bad news, but the momentum is clearly elsewhere.
Do small towns count in this ranking?
Only places with more than 5,000 residents qualify, which keeps one new subdivision from turning a tiny town into a statistical rocket. 21 Delaware cities cleared that bar this year.
