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Delaware brings to mind images of Dover, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you'll find in the good ole US of A.
However, like all states, Delaware has certain places that are going on hard times. These places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the places in Delaware that could use a helping hand.
To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 22 places in Delaware with more than 2,000 people.
Here are the ten poorest places in Delaware for 2022:
Again, this isn't a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it's just a look at the facts.
What's the poorst city in Delaware? According to the facts, Wilmington is the poorest place in Delaware for 2022.
Rich people more your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places in Delaware or the most dangerous.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
If you're looking for something more national, check out the poorest states in America or the poorest cities in America.
For more Delaware reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Delaware
- Cheapest Places To Live In Delaware
- Most Dangerous Cities In Delaware
The 10 Poorest Cities In Delaware For 2022
1. Wilmington
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Wilmington, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Delaware thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 70,655 people averages the 3rd lowest median household income in Delaware and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Dover
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The second poorest city in Delaware is Dover.
The city ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and 7th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate 'only' ranks as the 3rd highest in the First State.
3. Laurel
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Placing as the third poorest city, Laurel's median income ranks as the lowest.
And that's a sign that there's a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 36.030461684911955% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the First State.
4. Georg
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Population: 7,436
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $41,943 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.8% (6th highest)
Poverty Rate: 16.7% (7th highest)
More on Georg: Data
Georg ranks as the fourth poorest place in Delaware.
The town ranks as having the 2nd lowest median household income and the 7th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there's still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Seaford
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The fifth poorest city in Delaware is Seaford.
The city ranks as having the 9th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 6th highest in Delaware.
Still not the best news for Seaford.
6. Newark
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Newark ranks as the sixth poorest place in the First State.
It ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty and the 4th highest unemployment rate.
7. Milford
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Milford places as the seventh poorest city in Delaware.
The city of over 11,463 ranks as having the 10th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Harrington
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Harrington ranks as the eighth poorest city in Delaware.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 9th highest in the state.
9. Bridgeville
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Bridgeville couldn't stay out of the top ten poorest places in Delaware; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 5th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Bridgeville ranks as having the 12th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Delaware.
10. Delmar
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And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Delaware is Delmar.
The city of 2,153 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the First State.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Delaware for 2022
The first thing that comes to most people's minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don't think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the "poorest places". So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2016-2020 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
- Unemployment Rate
The "median household income adjusted for the cost of living" attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they'd still feel poor.
The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.
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 poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a "Poor Score" with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Wilmington, crowned the "Poorest Place In Delaware For 2022". You can download the data here.
Summary: The Poorest Places In Delaware For 2022
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest 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 bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you're curious enough, here are the richest cities in Delaware, according to data:
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Richest: Townsend
2nd Richest: New Castle
3rd Richest: Lewes
For more Delaware reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Delaware
- Safest Places In Delaware
- Worst Places To Live In Delaware
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Delaware
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Delaware
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilmington | 70,655 |
| 2 | Dover | 37,872 |
| 3 | Laurel | 4,311 |
| 4 | Georg | 7,436 |
| 5 | Seaford | 7,897 |
| 6 | Newark | 33,822 |
| 7 | Milford | 11,463 |
| 8 | Harrington | 3,658 |
| 9 | Bridgeville | 3,508 |
| 10 | Delmar | 2,153 |
| 11 | Elsmere | 5,814 |
| 12 | Smyrna | 11,694 |
| 13 | Millsboro | 4,448 |
| 14 | Milton | 2,993 |
| 15 | Middl | 22,350 |
| 16 | Camden | 3,529 |
| 17 | Clayton | 3,393 |
| 18 | Ocean View | 2,637 |
| 19 | Selbyville | 2,520 |
| 20 | Lewes | 3,266 |
| 21 | New Castle | 5,302 |
| 22 | Townsend | 2,546 |
