AreaProfile

Dover, Delaware

Area Profile

39,837 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Dover, in Kent County.

56
Area Score
Bottom 29% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1539th of 1,567 published cities22
GrowthTop 44% of 1,503 published cities54
Housing affordability1222nd of 1,876 published cities65
ClimateTop 30% of 1,876 published cities76
Physical resilienceTop 31% of 1,849 published cities75
Access1679th of 1,876 published cities72
Economic stability1295th of 1,876 published cities51
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 6.6% and the Opportunity signal places Dover in the bottom 2%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 259 units authorized over the past twelve months, 20% below the prior year.

Its Area Score of 56 places Dover in the top 71% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
39,837
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,199
Bottom 39% nationally
Density
1,673/sq mi
23.8 sq mi of land
Median age
34.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Kent County
Delaware
Metro area
Dover, DE
Nearest major airport
PHL
51 mi · Philadelphia Intl
Median home value
$258,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.6% is lower than 5% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.5% over the past year, to 16,125 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,412$60,199Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,564$31,743Bottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.0%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.4 minBottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.7%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment16,125Bottom 23%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.7%Bottom 3%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.5%Bottom 13%June 2026
Labor force17,267Bottom 25%June 2026
Labor force participation63.0%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$59,450Bottom 13%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,690Bottom 14%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 47%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.6%Top 5%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/06104.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.6% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202460k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,199 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Dover, DE
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,090$31,200
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,070$32,130
Cashiers2,010$31,720
Retail Salespersons1,820$34,060
Registered Nurses1,700$91,620
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers1,440$54,150

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,344 takes 27% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.3 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
26.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,344
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$258,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.30Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate46.9%Bottom 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±61116,448Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$50$1,344Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,984$258,900Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income26.8%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.2%Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
54/ 100
Top 44% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 40,191 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

74% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 6.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
259
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.5
Top 24% nationally
Year over year
−20%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
74.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202440k39k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202220232024202523948
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+398%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.6 inches, including 13.2 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DOVER, 1.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation47.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall13.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing42°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

75 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, heat wave and earthquake.

HurricaneElevated
Heat waveModerate
DroughtModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, inland flooding, lightning, tornado, ice storm, wildfire, hail, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 51 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Philadelphia IntlPHL51 mi12,000 ft
Atlantic City IntlACY55 mi10,001 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI61 mi10,503 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Put Dover side by side with a similar place.

Dover vs Fort HoodDover vs New LondonDover vs RedanDover vs Norwich

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Dover

2 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
1990438,818$66,90857
1990137,763$66,38856