All Delaware places > Kent County > Dover
An editorial illustration of Dover, Delaware
Kent County · Delaware incorporated municipality

Dover, DE

Home to Delaware Technical Community College-Terry, alongside 40,596 residents inside the boundary.

Population
40,596
DPC official estimate
Local jobs
30,876
LODES workplace jobs
Median income
$60,199
ACS 5-year estimate
School locations
23
FirstMap site count
City overview

The forces shaping Dover now.

A missing measure is unavailable coverage, not zero or an absence claim.

01
Population outlook

Dover's long-range population path stands out.

The Delaware Population Consortium projects 47,396 residents in 2050, a 17% change from its 2024 municipal estimate. This is a planning projection, not an observed outcome.

2024 estimate: 40,596 · 2050 projection: 47,396

Source: dpc projections 2024 · 2050 ↗.
03
Work

Dover's own financial reports explain why no city-level employer table exists.

Dover's ACFR cites a federal confidentiality rule as the reason its statistical section reports only county-wide industry totals, never named local employers or headcounts — a legal limit, not a disclosure gap the city could close by choice.

Rule cited: 20 CFR Part 603 · What's published: County-wide industry totals only

Source: City of Dover ACFR, statistical section.
04
Civic

Dover's representation splits across multiple districts.

4 House districts and 2 Senate districts cover the boundary, so no single legislator speaks for the whole place.

House districts: 4 · Senate districts: 2

Source: Delaware General Assembly / City of Wilmington, via Delaware FirstMap, checked 2026-09-12.
People

Who lives here—and which households shape demand?

Population uses Delaware's official Population Consortium estimate, which does not carry the ACS survey's sampling error for small places. Households and other figures below remain ACS survey estimates.

Population
40,596

Delaware Population Consortium official estimate

Source: dpc projections 2024 · 2024 ↗
2050 population projection
47,396

Planning projection, not an observed outcome

Source: dpc projections 2024 · 2050 ↗
Households
15,428
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Median age
35
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Median household income
$60,199
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Bachelor's degree or higher
27%

Among residents age 25 and older. ±3% margin of error.

Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Population composition

Residents by Census category

Each share uses the total Dover population as its denominator. Hispanic or Latino may be of any race; the other broad categories are non-Hispanic. Detailed Asian-alone groups use a separate Census race table.

Black, non-Hispanic45%
White, non-Hispanic34%
Hispanic or Latino11%
Two or more races, non-Hispanic6%
Filipino1%
Asian Indian1%
Pakistani0%
Thai0%
Korean0%
Two or more Asian groups0%
Japanese0%
Chinese, except Taiwanese0%
Other Asian, not specified0%

Sources: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗; census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗. Positive detailed Asian estimates are shown in this same composition list; published zeroes are omitted and are not proof of absence. Small differences may be within ACS survey uncertainty.

Source: dpc projections 2024 · 2024 ↗. ACS estimates cover a five-year survey period; margin of error is reported where provided.

Work

What work is located inside Dover?

LODES counts jobs by workplace location, not the industries of residents or a named-employer roster. The sector mix can show the shape of the local job base, not dependence on individual companies.

Jobs by sector

Latest LODES workplace-job estimates. Shares use the total local job count. Commuter-flow context (who works here vs. lives here) is intentionally omitted until the Delaware panel can identify scoped destinations without overstating cross-border precision — see real work-destination distances in the Mobility section below.

Government5,815
Healthcare & social assistance4,831
Hospitality3,479
Retail3,235
Education2,330
Administrative & support2,304

Source: lodes8 wac de 2023 · 2023 ↗.

Housing

What kinds of homes exist—and where is pressure visible?

Housing estimates describe existing conditions. Permit and development records signal reported activity, not starts, completions, or a complete construction census.

Owner-occupied
47%
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Median owner value
$258,900
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Vacancy rate
6%
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Two-bedroom rent benchmark
$1,629
Source: hud fmr 2027 · 2027 ↗
Owner-home values

A Census estimate, not a market price

These estimates cover owner-occupied homes only. They are not listings, sales, appraisals, or an all-homes measure; the final Census band is open-ended at $2M+.

Median estimate$258,900
Middle half of homes$200,100–$350,200Lower to upper quartile of owner estimates
Luxury-home concentration1%Estimated at $2M+
Under $500k94%
$500–749k4%
$750–999k1%
$1–1.49M0%
$1.5–1.99M1%
$2M+1%

Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗.

Existing housing mix

Detached homes40%
Attached homes15%
Small multifamily6%
5+ unit multifamily34%
Mobility

What is the scheduled supply—and how do workers usually commute?

GTFS measures scheduled service at stops within the boundary. It is not ridership, reliability, or a guarantee that a particular trip is practical. ACS commute modes are a separate survey estimate.

Typical drive times

About how long does it take to get where people go?

Work destinations are selected from observed resident job flows. These are broad, reviewed planning ranges from representative parts of Dover—not live-traffic or door-to-door predictions.

Dover

Dover is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Dover, representing 50% of matched resident jobs from this place.

5–20 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Smyrna

Smyrna is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Dover, representing 7% of matched resident jobs from this place.

20–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Wilmington

Wilmington is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Dover, representing 6% of matched resident jobs from this place.

85–150 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Milford

Milford is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Dover, representing 5% of matched resident jobs from this place.

35–70 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Method, review date, and sources

Planning estimate; actual time varies by departure time, route, traffic, weather, incidents, and closures.

Estimates are derived from reviewed origin/destination coordinates using the same documented distance-to-time heuristic as the Washington pilot (circuity factor and assumed effective speed by corridor type and period), then deliberately widened and rounded to a broad band. No live routing or traffic API was called. Two methodology differences from the Washington pilot, both disclosed: each place uses a single Census TIGER internal point as its representative origin rather than three job-weighted directional sample origins, and work destinations are selected from Delaware's own place-to-place LODES flow file rather than block-level clustering—out-of-state commute flows (aggregated to the Pennsylvania/Maryland/New Jersey state level in that source) are excluded because a state has no single routable coordinate.

Estimates reviewed 2026-09-12. Starting point: Dover representative point.

City boundary and regional context● nearby places
Daily life

Institutions and listed activity inside the boundary.

These are bounded inventories, not measures of access, enrollment, foot traffic, or the full local business economy. People routinely use services across place lines.

Local field guide

Places for everyday needs in Dover

Care, errands, food, fitness, and personal services gathered into one browsable directory.

Hospitals2 in cityView all
Clinics and urgent care51 listedView 8 places
Pharmacies19 listedView 8 places
Coffee15 listedView 8 places
Fitness20 listedView 8 places
Groceries22 listedView 8 places
Convenience9 listedView 8 places
Restaurants145 listedView 8 places
Salons and barbers69 listedView 8 places

Counts reflect current directory records associated with the city, not a complete business census or a measure of access. Large categories show a sample.

Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), snapshot 2026-08-13; Overture Maps Foundation, release 2026-08-19.0; U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (NPPES NPI Registry), snapshot 2026-09-12.

Public library footprint

Dover Public Library

Floor area shows the scale of the physical branches. The national IMLS outlet file does not report circulation at the branch level, so checkouts are not shown here; people routinely use libraries across city lines.

Branch floor area
46,000 sq ft

All matched branches must report floor area before a city total is shown.

Dover Public LibraryDover Public Library
35 Loockerman Plaza, Dover DE 1990146,000 sq ft~58 avg. hours/week

Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey (PLS), outlet file, 2024. Branches are matched by the outlet's reported coordinate falling inside the place boundary; bookmobiles and books-by-mail-only service are excluded because they have no fixed location.

The schools inside Dover.

Institution counts and enrollment remain separate. A school can serve students from outside the place, and residents may attend a school across the boundary or elsewhere in their district.

Public elementary9
  • Academy Of Dover Charter SchoolGrades KN08
  • Booker T. Washington Elementary SchoolGrades BK04
  • Campus Community SchoolGrades KN08
  • Capital Intensive Learning CenterGrades KN12
See all 9
  • Fairview Elementary SchoolGrades BK04
  • North Dover Elementary SchoolGrades KN04
  • South Dover Elementary SchoolGrades KN04
  • Towne Point Elementary SchoolGrades KN04
  • W. Reily Brown Elementary SchoolGrades 0105
Public middle4
  • Early College High School at Del StateGrades 0712
  • Kent County Secondary ILCGrades 0612
  • Middle School of ExcellenceGrades 0608
  • Middle School of InnovationGrades 0608
Public high1
  • Dover High SchoolGrades 0912
Other public programs9
  • Capital Administrative OfficeGrades UnGr
  • Capital Early Childhood CenterGrades IT01
  • Delaware Day Treatment Center (6-14) DoverGrades UnGr
  • Delaware Teacher CenterGrades UnGr
See all 9
  • East Dover Elementary SchoolGrades IT04
  • Kent County Community SchoolGrades IT12
  • PSI-EducationGrades UnGr
  • Tech Prep - DelawareGrades UnGr
  • William Henry Middle SchoolGrades 05
College and university locations
Delaware State UniversityPublic · 4,398 reported students*
Delaware Technical Community College-TerryPublic · 10,867 reported students*

*Scorecard student size is institution-level and may combine multiple reported locations; it is not necessarily enrollment at this point.

Public-school names and grade levels come from Delaware Department of Education / Delaware FirstMap ↗. College coverage: College Scorecard ↗.

Civic

Who represents Dover today?

State House and Senate districts are drawn independently of municipal boundaries, so a place can span more than one district per chamber.

State legislature

Reflects the current Delaware FirstMap district snapshot; a vacancy, resignation, or mid-term appointment can lag this by a few weeks.

Source: Delaware General Assembly / City of Wilmington, via Delaware FirstMap, checked 2026-09-12.

Dover's own government

Delaware has no single statewide directory of every town's mayor, council, and meeting schedule the way Washington's MRSC covers all 82 cities there, so Metroscope does not yet show a roster for Dover. Its official town site is the current-best source for that.

Delaware runs one statewide emergency notification system, not a separate one per place; cell phones aren't enrolled automatically. Sign up for Delaware emergency alerts (DEMA) ↗