Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 22,370.
Bear is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 28th of 37 graded towns in Delaware, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $92K. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its schools rank behind 76% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $412K, 4.5 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income. Bear has 4 places on the National Register. Bear’s typical rent is $1,771 a month, against $1,424 a month in Delaware’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Bear is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 70% of U.S. towns.
Where Bear beats most towns.
19,371 counted in 2010 and 23,060 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Delaware), ordered by how far Bear is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 17,593 in 2000, 23,060 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 5 maps from 1904 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bear. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi MuseumUSS New Jersey
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaLincoln Financial Field
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaXfinity Mobile Arena
Big draw36 mi Ancient siteIndependence Hall3.0M visitors a year
Big draw36 mi MuseumEastern State Penitentiary
32 mi Park & preserveSchuylkill RiverUSS New Jersey: Camera Operator: PH3 BRYANT, Public domain · Lincoln Financial Field: The original uploader was Betp at French Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Xfinity Mobile Arena: Jen Smith, CC BY 3.0 · Independence Hall: Mys 721tx, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Eastern State Penitentiary: Davidt8, Public domain · Schuylkill River: Emy111 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Bear is unincorporated, so New Castle County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Bear.
Bear gets more snow than almost anywhere else in Delaware, owes part of its health edge to its incomes and has added half again as many jobs in ten years.
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The public schools here belong to the Christina School District. The 2 public schools in Bear teach 828 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oberle (William) Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 512 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within DE on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here grew from 2,415 in 2013 to 3,787.
The top destinations are Wilmington (10%), New Castle (4%) and Newark (4%). Only 3% of working residents stay in Bear for work; the rest commute out. Jobs based in Bear grew to 3,787 in 2023, 1,372 more than in 2013. For half of commuters, work is under 9 miles away.
| Bear | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $92,000 | $80,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.2% | 5.2% | 8% |
| Work from home | 15% | 15% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Wilmington New Castle Co Ap weather station, 6 miles away, records that 20 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, the highest of 79 Delaware places with climate records. January nights average 24.8°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 86% of Delaware places with climate records; July afternoons average 87°.
Its typical July afternoon high is 87°F.
| Bear | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 87°F | 87°F | 85°F |
| January low | 25°F | 25°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
There are 1.3 miles of trail across 5 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Bear: 5, covering 19 acres. The density of trails for Bear comes to 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Becks Pond County Park | — | 9 |
| 2. Kings Croft Park | — | 7 |
| 3. Wellington Woods Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For residents in Bear, the share who are under 18 is 23%. People 65 and older are 15% of residents (21% statewide). The age of the median resident locally is 37.9 years. The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 33%, against 36% across Delaware.
| Bear | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 37.9 years | 40.8 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 23% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 35% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.3 points). Across Delaware, 51.6% of residents are women.
| Bear | DE | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.4% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.5% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.2% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.1% | 11.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.6% | 14% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 12.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.8% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.8% | 8.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.6% | 28.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.9% | 18.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.2% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19% | 20.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.6% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Since 1989, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bear. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 52% of U.S. communities. One declared disaster, in 2003, has brought federal aid to Bear households. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 72% come from inland flooding and 7% from cold waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
On the market in Bear: a median 46 days to sell. The typical home value locally is about $412,000, up 1% in a year, close to the Delaware typical home. Also worth knowing: nearly two thirds of households live in a home they own locally.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 9,770 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bear’s, it is less healthy than 65%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
The share of adults in Bear who binge drink: 15%. CDC measures, 32 in all: Bear beats Delaware on 5 and trails on 8. Two figures for adults locally: 35% feel lonely, 38% sleep under 7 hours.
| Bear | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 33% | 33% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 37% | 36% |
| What stands out | Bear | DE |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.4% | 9.1% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.4% | 6.9% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 16.5% | 11.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
6 within 15 miles of the center of Bear
About 6 of every 100 Bear residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Delaware.
Where Bear’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in Delaware, United States
Bear is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bear had a population of 23,060. Originally a small crossroads in a rural area, approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of Wilmington, the area supported small farms growing mainly corn and cattle. In the late 1980s and 1990s Bear became a popular location for the construction of sprawling housing developments and shopping centers along U.S. Route 40. Much of Bear runs along the highway, and extends to approximately Delaware Route 896.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bear grades C overall, better than 29% of U.S. towns and #28 of 37 in Delaware. It grades B− for health and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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