Cities with highest divorce rate in Delaware research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Delaware’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Delaware based on the percentage of currently divorced residents. Here are the results of our analysis:
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The city with the highest divorce rate in Delaware is Bellefonte based on the most recent Census data.
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Bellefonte is 10.0% Divorced.
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The city with the lowest divorce rate in Delaware is Ocean View.
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Ocean View is 1.0% Divorced.
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Delaware is 4.0% Divorced.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
There are some 32,187 people living in Delaware over fifteen years of age who are divorced. You can compare that to the 28,339,199 Americans who are currently divorced in 2025.
Many people decide to run away – or split up – across the First State.
Isn’t the divorce rate in America close to 50%? Yes indeed. But we’re measuring something else; we are looking at counts and percentages of people over 15 years old who are currently divorced. That 50% statistic is for the percentage of people who have ever been divorced.
For today’s analysis, the focus will be on the number of currently divorced people.
So now that we have you biting your nails, rethinking your worldview, and pulling out your hair, let’s look at the places in Delaware with the highest rates of divorcees.
The 10 Cities In Delaware With The Highest Divorce Rates
Let’s quickly recap before we dive into the Saturday Night Science behind the data.
What is the city in Delaware with the highest divorce rate? That would be Bellefonte, with 10.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data.
What is the overall Delaware divorce rate? According to the 2019-2023 Community Survey, the overall divorce rate in Delaware is 4.0%, which compares to the US divorce rate of 10.9%.
Alrighty, on to how we calculated the places with the highest divorce rates in Delaware.
For more Delaware reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Delaware
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Delaware
- Most Dangerous Cities In Delaware
The 10 Places With The Highest Divorce Rate In Delaware For 2025
1. Bellefonte
/10
Population: 1,507
Divorce Rate: 10.0%
Divorcees: 120
Median Income: $86,667
More on Bellefonte:
2. Harrington
/10
Population: 3,805
Divorce Rate: 9.0%
Divorcees: 273
Median Income: $72,606
More on Harrington:
/10
Population: 12,193
Divorce Rate: 7.0%
Divorcees: 682
Median Income: $55,265
More on Milford: Data
/10
Population: 13,031
Divorce Rate: 6.0%
Divorcees: 625
Median Income: $70,473
More on Smyrna: Data
5. Newport
Population: 1,209
Divorce Rate: 6.0%
Divorcees: 58
Median Income: $59,833
More on Newport:
/10
Population: 71,124
Divorce Rate: 6.0%
Divorcees: 3,413
Median Income: $55,269
More on Wilmington: Data
7. Delaware City
/10
Population: 1,976
Divorce Rate: 6.0%
Divorcees: 94
Median Income: $78,333
More on Delaware City:
8. Greenwood
/10
Population: 1,800
Divorce Rate: 6.0%
Divorcees: 86
Median Income: $72,063
More on Greenwood:
/10
Population: 6,189
Divorce Rate: 6.0%
Divorcees: 297
Median Income: $76,378
More on Elsmere: Data
/10
Population: 5,519
Divorce Rate: 5.0%
Divorcees: 220
Median Income: $92,565
More on New Castle: Data
How We Determined The Places In Delaware That Get Un-Hitched The Most
Since this is the 58th category of rankings we are compiling for the site, we had a pretty good idea of where to find data on marriage and divorce in America. We used Saturday Night Science to look at the U.S. Census Bureau on divorce rates. Because who likes tracking misery more than the U.S. government?
Specifically, we looked at the 2019-2023 American Community Survey table S1201 — Marital Status.
Pretty straightforward on that front — we just had to extract the following column of data:
- Population 15 Years and Over -> Divorced
There are some interesting/fun/sad data like .1% of female Americans aged 15-19 are divorced, but 0% of males (That’s probably a rounding issue, but still).
But the national data is for another day. Today, the analysis focuses on the 33 places in Delaware with a population of over 1,000.
We ranked each place by the percentage of divorcees over 15 years of age from highest to lowest. We crowned the divorce capital of Delaware the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Bellefonte.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Ocean View, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Delaware.
We updated this article for 2025 and this list is our fifth time ranking the cities in Delaware with the highest divorce rates.
Getting Some Closure In Delaware After Untying The Know
Besides just coming up with what we thought would be a great new blog/book title, “Untying the Knot In Delaware: Life After Divorce,” we now have a sense of what places in the First State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in Delaware are Bellefonte, Harrington, Milford, Smyrna, Newport, Wilmington, Delaware City, Greenwood, Elsmere, and New Castle.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Delaware could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce.
And that’s probably for the best. Getting out of a toxic relationship is much better than staying in it.
Just make sure you have your running shoes ready to go.
For more Delaware reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Delaware
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Delaware
- Most Dangerous Cities In Delaware
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Delaware
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellefonte, DE | 1,507 | 120 | 10.0% |
| 2 | Harrington, DE | 3,805 | 273 | 9.0% |
| 3 | Milford, DE | 12,193 | 682 | 7.0% |
| 4 | Smyrna, DE | 13,031 | 625 | 6.0% |
| 5 | Newport, DE | 1,209 | 58 | 6.0% |
| 6 | Wilmington, DE | 71,124 | 3,413 | 6.0% |
| 7 | Delaware City, DE | 1,976 | 94 | 6.0% |
| 8 | Greenwood, DE | 1,800 | 86 | 6.0% |
| 9 | Elsmere, DE | 6,189 | 297 | 6.0% |
| 10 | New Castle, DE | 5,519 | 220 | 5.0% |
| 11 | Wyoming, DE | 1,789 | 71 | 5.0% |
| 12 | Blades, DE | 1,055 | 42 | 5.0% |
| 13 | Felton, DE | 1,129 | 36 | 4.0% |
| 14 | Dover, DE | 39,491 | 1,263 | 4.0% |
| 15 | Middl, DE | 24,071 | 770 | 4.0% |
| 16 | Clayton, DE | 4,086 | 130 | 4.0% |
| 17 | Milton, DE | 3,469 | 111 | 4.0% |
| 18 | Cheswold, DE | 1,833 | 43 | 3.0% |
| 19 | Millsboro, DE | 7,152 | 171 | 3.0% |
| 20 | Delmar, DE | 2,386 | 57 | 3.0% |
| 21 | Bridgeville, DE | 2,661 | 63 | 3.0% |
| 22 | Georg, DE | 7,456 | 178 | 3.0% |
| 23 | Laurel, DE | 4,043 | 97 | 3.0% |
| 24 | Dagsboro, DE | 1,350 | 21 | 2.0% |
| 25 | Rehoboth Beach, DE | 1,388 | 22 | 2.0% |
| 26 | Seaford, DE | 8,255 | 132 | 2.0% |
| 27 | Selbyville, DE | 3,005 | 48 | 2.0% |
| 28 | Townsend, DE | 2,792 | 44 | 2.0% |
| 29 | Lewes, DE | 3,415 | 54 | 2.0% |
| 30 | Millville, DE | 2,059 | 16 | 1.0% |
| 31 | Camden, DE | 4,011 | 32 | 1.0% |
| 32 | Newark, DE | 30,309 | 242 | 1.0% |
| 33 | Ocean View, DE | 2,760 | 22 | 1.0% |