Dover, DE
Dover, DE Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Dover, DE Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Dover ranks 118th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 109th for income. A household earns $81,117 a year while median rent runs $1,540/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 2% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (67th of 300), while job market is the soft spot (246th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 215th and home prices 179th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Dover, your take-home is worth about $59,067 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 109th of 300↑39.9%$81,117
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 188th of 30098 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $83,191
- Per-capita income
- $38,431
- Full-time pay
- $45,226
Housing
- Median rent
- 215th of 300↑36.9%$1,540/mo
- Home value
- 179th of 300↑50.9%$339,800
- Property tax
- $1,422/yr · 0.4%
- Sales tax
- 0.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 246th of 3005.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 183rd of 30031.3%
- Avg commute
- 234th of 30027.3 min
People
- Population
- 192,690
- Population change
- +6.6%
- Median age
- 39.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 7.3%
- Broadband
- 92.5%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 80th of 30041
- Natural-hazard loss
- 67th of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 203rd of 30020.2%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Rent
- – Job market
- – Commute
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — georgetown-delaware coastal ap.
What jobs pay in Dover
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $233,980
- IT managers
- $169,420
- Financial managers
- $159,540
- Pharmacists
- $151,930
- General & operations managers
- $119,990
- Software developers
- $107,530
- Civil engineers
- $99,640
- Registered nurses
- $91,620
- Secondary school teachers
- $76,710
- Elementary school teachers
- $75,080
- Accountants & auditors
- $72,730
- Electricians
- $60,750
- Plumbers
- $58,410
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $54,150
- Carpenters
- $52,140
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $45,920
- Construction laborers
- $45,810
- Customer service reps
- $42,120
- Waiters & waitresses
- $36,030
- Janitors
- $35,320
- Retail salespersons
- $34,060
- Cashiers
- $31,720
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Dover metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Delaware are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Maryland965
- Pennsylvania903
- New Jersey593
- Utah537
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Dover
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Dover metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Dover metro?
- Median gross rent across the Dover, DE Metro Area is $1,540 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Dover.
- What is the median household income in the Dover metro?
- A typical household in the Dover, DE Metro Area earns $81,117 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Dover expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Dover, DE Metro Area runs about 2% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Dover metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $83,191 (versus its face value of $81,117). CityLedger rates the Dover, DE Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Dover metro?
- The median home value across the Dover, DE Metro Area is $339,800 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Dover metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Dover, DE Metro Area is 5.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).