Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Living in Bear, DE: what to set up and who to call
Bear has no town government of its own, so New Castle County runs its elections and most services, and its children attend Christina School District. The closest public drop-off to Bear is Goodchild Yard Waste Dropoff, 3 miles out; the town decides whether residents may use it.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Bear, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Bear.
Power comes from Delmarva Power
Delmarva Power (Delmarva Power), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Bear. Its homes paid an average of 18.2¢ per kWh in 2025, about $162 a month (its average across Delaware, for customers on its standard service). Delaware lets you buy power from another supplier; 9% of Delmarva Power’s home customers do, and Delmarva Power still delivers it.
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Artesian Water Company
Artesian Water Company supplies Bear: about 72% of residents live in its service area. Veolia Water Delaware, Inc serves another 21%. About 9% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It buys treated surface water (EPA lists Middletown Water Department and Municipal Services Commission and Wilmington Water Department and Chester Water Authority as sellers) and serves 231,114 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 86% of the 332 systems serving 100,001–250,000 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2024–Dec 2026, was 1.0 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s lower than 59% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. DE0000552.
4 home internet providers serve Bear
100% of 7,322 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 98% can get fiber.
| Provider | Technology | Addresses | Fastest (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xfinity | Cable, Fiber | 100% | 2,000/250 |
| Verizon | Fiber, Fixed wireless | 99% | 2,300/2,300 |
| AT&T | Fixed wireless | 36% | 100/20 |
| T-Mobile | Fixed wireless | 34% | 100/20 |
FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.
The nearest public drop-off is 3 miles away
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Bear.
Goodchild Yard Waste Dropoff
· run by Goodchild Inc.
This isn’t Bear’s own facility. Whether Bear residents may use it is the town’s rule: check the town’s office.
OpenStreetMap, as of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Most of Bear (59%) is in Christina School District; parts are in Colonial School District (41%).
C−School gradeSee Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
No town hall: the county runs things
Bear is unincorporated, so New Castle County is the local government.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Sep 2019; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Bear spans 3 ZIP codes
ZIP codes where Bear residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Bear | ZIP’s residents in Bear |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19702 | Newark, DE | 51% | 21% |
| 19701 | Bear, DE | 40% | 22% |
| 19720 | New Castle, DE | 8% | 3% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Bear
Who supplies Bear’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
Artesian Water Company (EPA ID DE0000552). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 86% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 1.0 ppb (Jan 2024–Dec 2026), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Bear?
Delmarva Power (Delmarva Power), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 18.2¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What internet providers serve Bear?
Xfinity, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile (FCC, as of December 2025).
What ZIP codes are in Bear?
19702 (51%), 19701 (40%), 19720 (8%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Bear in?
Christina School District. Parts of the city are in Colonial School District.
How do I register to vote in Bear?
In Delaware you can register online until 24 days before Election Day, in person until 24 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 24 days before). Elections here are run by the Department of Elections - New Castle County Office. Check your registration at ivote.de.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.