Townsend, New Castle, Lewes: These cities aren’t just some of the best places to live in Delaware. They are also home to some of the richest people in the First State.
Townsend in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $142,115 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 1.3915005641218503%.
If you’re thinking of moving to one of these towns, you’ll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Delaware share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2017-2021 American Community Survey for the 22 places in Delaware with more than 2,000 people.
Here are the 10 richest places in Delaware for 2023:
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Delaware.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Delaware:
The 10 Richest Cities In Delaware For 2023
1. Townsend
/10
Population: 2,671
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $142,115
Unemployment Rate: 2.1%
Poverty Rate: 1.4%
More on Townsend: Real Estate | Photos
2. New Castle
/10
Population: 5,482
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $83,651
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%
Poverty Rate: 2.9%
More on New Castle: Real Estate | Photos
3. Lewes
/10
Population: 3,257
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $78,125
Unemployment Rate: 1.0%
Poverty Rate: 7.0%
More on Lewes: Real Estate | Photos
4. Selbyville
/10
Population: 2,806
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $77,974
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
Poverty Rate: 5.6%
More on Selbyville: Real Estate | Photos
5. Clayton
/10
Population: 3,845
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Median Income: $91,346
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 9.0%
More on Clayton: Real Estate | Photos
6. Ocean View
/10
Population: 2,556
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $80,225
Unemployment Rate: 2.0%
Poverty Rate: 12.4%
More on Ocean View: Real Estate | Photos
7. Camden
/10
Population: 3,786
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Income: $65,023
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 4.2%
More on Camden: Real Estate | Photos
8. Millsboro
/10
Population: 6,542
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 2)
Median Income: $57,632
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 7.9%
More on Millsboro: Real Estate | Photos
9. Middl
/10
Population: 23,001
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Income: $93,750
Unemployment Rate: 8.9%
Poverty Rate: 7.3%
More on Middl: Real Estate | Photos
10. Smyrna
/10
Population: 12,619
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 1)
Median Income: $63,794
Unemployment Rate: 4.9%
Poverty Rate: 13.8%
More on Smyrna: Real Estate | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In Delaware For 2023
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 22 places with more than 2,000 people in Delaware, we ranked each place from 1 to 22 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Townsend, crowned the “Richest City In Delaware For 2023”. You can download the data here.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 22 places.
Summary: The Wealthiest Places In Delaware For 2023
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Delaware, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Delaware.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Delaware, according to data:
Poorest: Wilmington
2nd Poorest: Dover
3rd Poorest: Newark
For more Delaware reading, check out:
- Cheapest Places To Live In Delaware
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Delaware
- Worst Places To Live In Delaware
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Delaware
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Townsend | 2.0 |
| 2 | New Castle | 3.67 |
| 3 | Lewes | 4.0 |
| 4 | Selbyville | 5.67 |
| 5 | Clayton | 6.0 |
| 6 | Ocean View | 6.0 |
| 7 | Camden | 7.33 |
| 8 | Millsboro | 7.67 |
| 9 | Middl | 10.0 |
| 10 | Smyrna | 12.0 |
| 11 | Elsmere | 12.67 |
| 12 | Bridgeville | 13.0 |
| 13 | Harrington | 13.0 |
| 14 | Milton | 13.33 |
| 15 | Delmar | 14.33 |
| 16 | Georg | 17.0 |
| 17 | Seaford | 17.0 |
| 18 | Milford | 17.0 |
| 19 | Laurel | 17.33 |
| 20 | Newark | 17.33 |
| 21 | Dover | 17.33 |
| 22 | Wilmington | 19.33 |
