New Castle County, DE

County

Add Comparison

2024 Population

577,961

US Senator

Chris Coons

Democratic Party

US Senator

Lisa Blunt Rochester

Democratic Party

US Representative

Sarah McBride

Democratic Party

2024 Median Age

39.3

0.255% 1-year increase

2024 Poverty Rate

10.1%

0.661% 1-year decrease

2024 Median Household Income

$91,166

1.41% 1-year growth

2024 Median Property Value

$352,200

6.79% 1-year growth

2024 Employed Population

293,043

0.628% 1-year growth

About

None of the households in New Castle County, DE reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

94.3% of the residents in New Castle County, DE are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in New Castle County, DE are University of Delaware (6,485 degrees awarded in 2023), Wilmington University (3,451 degrees), and Dawn Career Institute LLC (359 degrees).

In 2024, the median property value in New Castle County, DE was $352,200, and the homeownership rate was 69%.

Most people in New Castle County, DE drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 25.3 minutes. The average car ownership in New Castle County, DE was 2 cars per household.

New Castle County, DE borders Kent County, DE, Cecil County, MD, Kent County, MD, Gloucester County, NJ, Salem County, NJ, Chester County, PA, and Delaware County, PA.

About the photo: Nemours Mansion and Gardens

Photo by Peter Miller

United States Delaware Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

Population & Diversity

New Castle County, DE is home to a population of 578k people, from which 94.3% are citizens. As of 2024, 12.7% of New Castle County, DE residents were born outside of the country (73.5k people).

In 2024, there were 2.1 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (303k people) in New Castle County, DE than any other race or ethnicity. There were 144k Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) and 35.7k Asian (Non-Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

94.3%

2024 Citizenship

94.4%

2023 Citizenship

As of 2024, 94.3% of New Castle County, DE residents were US citizens, which is higher than the national average of 93.2%. In 2023, the percentage of US citizens in New Castle County, DE was 94.4%, meaning that the rate of citizenship has been decreasing.

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in New Castle County, DE compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in New Castle County, DE

White (Non-Hispanic)
303k ± 1.2k
Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)
144k ± 1.45k
Asian (Non-Hispanic)
35.7k ± 576

11.8%

Hispanic Population

68.2k people

11.8% of the people in New Castle County, DE are hispanic (68.2k people).

The following chart shows the 8 races represented in New Castle County, DE as a share of the total population.

Global Diversity

The PUMS dataset is not available at the County level, so we are showing data for Delaware.

Most Common Origin

Mexico
15,383 ± 3,022 people
India
11,725 ± 2,643 people
Guatemala
6,344 ± 1,949 people

In 2023, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Delaware was Mexico, the natal country of 15,383 Delaware residents, followed by India with 11,725 and Guatemala with 6,344.

Foreign-Born Population

12.7%

2024 Foreign-Born Population

73.5k people

12.2%

2023 Foreign-Born Population

70k people

As of 2024, 12.7% of New Castle County, DE residents (73.5k people) were born outside of the United States, which is approximately the same as the national average of 14%. In 2023, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in New Castle County, DE was 12.2%, meaning that the rate has been increasing.

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in New Castle County, DE compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period

Vietnam
8,551 ± 641
Gulf War (2001-)
5,898 ± 747
Gulf War (1990s)
3,429 ± 452

New Castle County, DE has a large population of military personnel who served in Vietnam, 1.45 times greater than any other conflict.

The chart shows the distribution of veterans by conflict in New Castle County, DE.

Economy

The economy of New Castle County, DE employs 293k people. In 2024, the largest industries in New Castle County, DE were Health Care & Social Assistance (47,022 people), Retail Trade (31,752 people), and Finance & Insurance (30,216 people), and the highest paying industries were Utilities ($108,529), Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($93,192), and Finance & Insurance ($88,801).

Employment

Occupations

293k

2024 Value

± 4,827

0.628%

1 Year growth

± 2.34%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in New Castle County, DE grew at a rate of 0.628%, from 291k employees to 293k employees.

The most common job groups, by number of people living in New Castle County, DE, are Management Occupations (34,597 people), Office & Administrative Support Occupations (30,912 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (24,013 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of New Castle County, DE.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Delaware.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Delaware (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

Industries

Employment by Industries

293k

2024 Value

± 4,827

0.628%

1 Year growth

± 2.34%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in New Castle County, DE grew at a rate of 0.628%, from 291k employees to 293k employees.

The most common employment sectors for those who live in New Castle County, DE, are Health Care & Social Assistance (47,022 people), Retail Trade (31,752 people), and Finance & Insurance (30,216 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of New Castle County, DE, though some of these residents may live in New Castle County, DE and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Median Earnings by Industry

$60,880

Median earning men ± $794

$48,535

Median earning women ± $1,302

The industries with the best median earnings for men in 2024 are Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($98,930), Public Administration ($82,032), and Manufacturing ($81,067).

The industries with the best median earnings for women in 2024 are Manufacturing ($83,613), Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($74,946), and Wholesale Trade ($71,350).

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Delaware.

Y-Axis

2.43%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 472k people employed in Delaware. This represents a 2.43% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 14.1%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in Delaware.

Establishments by Size

The industries with the most establishments

1,896
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
952
Retail Trade
928
Finance and Insurance

The visualization shows the distribution of establishments by industry and by size according to the number of employees.

The visualization shows the number of establishments and its share across establishment sizes.

Payroll by Industry Sector

The industries with the highest total annual payroll

$3.84M
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
$3.45M
Finance and Insurance
$3.29M
Health Care and Social Assistance

The chart shows the total annual payroll and the average annual payroll by industry.

Civics

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Delaware went to Kamala Harris with 56.5% of the vote. The runner-up was Donald J. Trump (41.8%), followed by Robert Kennedy (0.904%).

Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester are the senators currently representing the state of Delaware. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

New Castle County, DE is currently represented by Sarah McBride in the U.S. house, and members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms.

Presidential Elections

Presidential Popular Vote Over Time

Voting results are not available for New Castle County, DE. Showing the available data for Delaware.

2024 Election Results

Kamala Harris (56.5%)
Democratic Party
Donald J. Trump (41.8%)
Republican Party
Robert Kennedy (0.904%)
Independent Party

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Delaware went to Kamala Harris with 56.5% of the vote. The runner-up was Donald J. Trump (41.8%), followed by Robert Kennedy (0.904%).

The following chart shows the popular vote results in Delaware for each registered party from 1976 to 2024.

Senator Elections

US Senators from Delaware

Senatorial voting results are only available at the state level. Showing data for Delaware.

Chris Coons

Senator from Delaware

Assumed office on November 15, 2010
Elected to the seat to succeed Ted Kaufman, who had been appointed to the seat following the resignation of Joe Biden, who had become Vice President of the United States.

Lisa Blunt Rochester

Senator from Delaware

Assumed office on January 3, 2025

Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester are the senators currently representing Delaware.

In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

The following chart shows elected senators in Delaware over time, excluding special elections, colored by their political party.

US Representative Elections

US Representatives from New Castle County, DE

Sarah McBride

District at-large Representative

Democratic Party

New Castle County, DE is currently represented by Sarah McBride (Democratic Party).

Members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms, and the following chart shows the how the member for New Castle County, DE have changed over time starting in 2008.

Education

In 2023, universities in New Castle County, DE awarded 11,073 degrees. The student population of New Castle County, DE in 2023 is skewed towards women, with 16,578 male students and 24,587 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in New Castle County, DE are White (6,350 and 64.1%), Black or African American (1,537 and 15.5%), Hispanic or Latino (870 and 8.78%), and Asian (479 and 4.83%).

The largest universities in New Castle County, DE by number of degrees awarded are University of Delaware (6,485 and 58.6%), Wilmington University (3,451 and 31.2%), and Dawn Career Institute LLC (359 and 3.24%).

The most popular majors in New Castle County, DE are General Business Administration & Management (810 and 7.32%), Computer & Information Systems Security (497 and 4.49%), and General Finance (420 and 3.79%).

The median tuition costs in New Castle County, DE are $12,855 for private four year colleges, and $14,040 and $37,680 respectively, for public four year colleges for in-state students and out-of-state students.

Admissions & Enrollments

Applicants, Admissions & Enrolled

University

Measure

In 2023 in New Castle County, DE, the percentage of applicants admitted was 65.5%, while the percentage of admitted who enrolled was 18.5%. The number of students enrolled in 2023 was 41,165 (40.3% men and 59.7% women).

The line chart shows the evolution of the percentage of applicants admitted, admitted who enrolled or the number of students enrolled according to the option selected in the upper button.

Enrollments by Gender and Races

Universities

In 2023 there were 41,165 students enrolled in New Castle County, DE, 40.3% men and 59.7% women.

By race, the largest number of students enrolled was concentrated in White with 22,149 records, of which 61.7% were women and 38.3% men.

Completions

Concentrations

Most Common

General Finance
355 degrees awarded
Registered Nursing
333 degrees awarded
General Marketing & Marketing Management
267 degrees awarded

In 2023, the most common concentation for Bachelors Degree recipients in New Castle County, DE was General Finance with 355 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Bachelors Degree from schools in New Castle County, DE according to their major.

Universities

Gender

Race

Largest Universities by degrees awarded

University of Delaware
6,485 degrees awarded
Wilmington University
3,451 degrees awarded
Dawn Career Institute LLC
359 degrees awarded

In 2023, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was University of Delaware with 6,485 degrees awarded.

Student Diversity

University

In 2023, 4,284 men were awarded degrees from institutions in New Castle County, DE, which is 0.631 times less than the 6,789 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2023, the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was White students. These 6,350 degrees mean that there were 4.13 times more degrees awarded to White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Black or African American, with 1,537 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Tuition

Average Net Price by Sector

Universities

Private not-for-profit, 2-year ($28,330) is the sector with the highest median state tuition in 2023.

Public, 4-year or above ($2,040) is the sector with the highest median state fee in 2023.

Private not-for-profit, 2-year ($3,200) is the sector with the highest average net price of books and supplies.

The graph shows the average net price by sector and year.

Housing & Living

The median property value in New Castle County, DE was $352,200 in 2024, which is 1.06 times larger than the national average of $332,700. Between 2023 and 2024 the median property value increased from $329,800 to $352,200, a 6.79% increase. The homeownership rate in New Castle County, DE is 69%, which is higher than the national average of 65.2%.

People in New Castle County, DE have an average commute time of 25.3 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in New Castle County, DE is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

In 2025, 14.4% of the population was living with severe housing problems in New Castle County, DE. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 0.801%.

Housing

Property

$352,200

Median Property Value 2024

±$3,776

$154,724

Median Property Taxes

±$3,126

The following chart display owner-occupied housing units distributed between a series of property tax buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In New Castle County, DE the largest share of households pay taxes in the $3k+ range.

The chart underneath the paragraph shows the property taxes in New Castle County, DE compared to it's parent and neighbor geographies.

Rent vs Own

69%

Homeownership

2024

68.2%

Homeowners with Mortgage

2024

In 2024, 69% of the housing units in New Castle County, DE were occupied by their owner. This percentage grew from the previous year's rate of 68.5%.

This chart shows the percentage of owner in New Castle County, DE compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.

Equity

Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

$91,166

Median Household Income

± $1,765

224k

Number of Households

± 4,147

In 2024, the median household income of the 224k households in New Castle County, DE grew to $91,166 from the previous year's value of $89,901.

The following chart displays the households in New Castle County, DE distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $200k+ range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for New Castle County, DE is from Delaware.

0.456

2023 Wage GINI in Delaware

0.457

2022 Wage GINI in Delaware

In 2023, the income inequality in Delaware was 0.456 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.24% decline from 2022 to 2023, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even. The GINI for Delaware was lower than than the national average of 0.476. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Delaware in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Delaware across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2024

Drove Alone (68.6%)
Worked At Home (17.6%)
Carpooled (7.26%)

In 2024, 68.6% of workers in New Castle County, DE drove alone to work, followed by those who worked at home (17.6%) and those who carpooled to work (7.26%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

25.3 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in New Castle County, DE have a shorter commute time (25.3 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.4 minutes). Additionally, 2.13% of the workforce in New Castle County, DE have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in New Castle County, DE compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in New Castle County, DE distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in New Castle County, DE have 2 cars.

Poverty

Severe Housing Problems

In 2025, 14.4% of the population was living with severe housing problems in New Castle County, DE. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 0.801%.

The graph shows the trend of the percentage of the population living with severe housing problems.

Poverty & Diversity

10.1% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in New Castle County, DE (56.9k out of 562k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is lower than the national average of 12.5%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 25 - 34, followed by Females 55 - 64 and then Females 35 - 44.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in New Castle County, DE is White, followed by Black and Hispanic.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

Children in Poverty

In 2025, 14.6% of the children was living in poverty in New Castle County, DE. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 0.6%.

The graph shows the trend of the percentage of the children living in poverty.

Social Needs

Data only available at the state level.

Most prevalent states

California
35,798 individuals
New York
5,087 individuals
Florida
4,915 individuals

In 2017, California had the highest estimated number of chronically homeless individuals in the nation, at 35,798. New York has the second highest (5,087), followed by Florida (4,915).

The following map shows the estimated number of chronically homeless individuals by state over multiple years.

Security

Crimes & Accidents

Indicator

In 2022, the number of reported violent crimes offenses per 100,000 population was 551 in New Castle County, DE. From 2014 to 2022, the indicator declined 92.1 per 100,000 population.

The graph shows the trend in the number of reported violent crimes offenses per 100,000 population.

Health

94.1% of the population of New Castle County, DE has health coverage, with 53% on employee plans, 15% on Medicaid, 12.5% on Medicare, 12.6% on non-group plans, and 0.993% on military or VA plans.

Primary care physicians in New Castle County, DE see 1,155 patients per year on average, which represents a 0% change from the previous year (1,155 patients). Compare this to dentists who see 1723 patients per year, and mental health providers who see 239 patients per year.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 48.3% were men and 51.7% were women.

Coverage

Patient to Clinician Ratios

1,155 to 1

Patient to Primary Care Physician Ratio in New Castle County, DE

Primary care physicians in New Castle County, DE see an average of 1,155 patients per year. This represents a 0% change from the previous year (1,155 patients).

The following chart shows how the number of patients seen by primary care physicians has been changing over time in New Castle County, DE in comparison to its neighboring geographies.

Health Care Diversity

In 2024, insured persons according to age ranges were distributed in 23% under 18 years, 21.3% between 18 and 34 years, 38.8% between 35 and 64 years, and 16.9% over 64 years.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 48.3% were men and 51.7% were women.

The following chart shows the number of people with health coverage by gender.

Uninsured People

5.89%

Uninsured

53%

Employer Coverage

15%

Medicaid

12.5%

Medicare

12.6%

Non-Group

0.993%

Military or VA

Between 2023 and 2024, the percent of uninsured citizens in New Castle County, DE grew by 4.13% from 5.66% to 5.89%.

The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in New Castle County, DE changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.

Health Indicators

Health Outcomes

Indicator

In 2025, the number of deaths among residents under age 18 per 100,000 population was 55.2 in New Castle County, DE.

The graphic shows the trend of the indicator in New Castle County, DE.

Health Behaviors

Indicator

In 2025, the percentage of the adult population (age 18 and older) that reports a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 (age-adjusted) was 37.6% in New Castle County, DE.

The graphic shows the trend of the indicator in New Castle County, DE.