Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 15,115.
Brookside is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 29th of 37 graded towns in Delaware, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: a typical home costs about $280K, 3.1 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its public schools trail 79% of Delaware towns on state tests and graduation. Only 1 of Delaware’s 54 towns score lower on hazard risk. Brookside is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 85% of U.S. towns. Brookside has 6 places on the National Register.
Where Brookside beats most towns.
Where Brookside’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Delaware), ordered by how far Brookside is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 7,856 in 1970, 14,974 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2020 and 5 maps from 1904 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Brookside. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi MuseumUSS New Jersey
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaLincoln Financial Field
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaXfinity Mobile Arena
Big draw35 mi Ancient siteIndependence Hall3.0M visitors a year
Big draw35 mi MuseumEastern State Penitentiary
31 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
Brookside 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 Brookside.
Brookside gets more snow than almost anywhere else in Delaware, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Delaware (mostly inland flooding).
Its public schools are run by the Christina School District. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Brennen School (The), with 419 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gauger-Cobbs Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 681 | C− |
| Brennen School (The)Largest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 419 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within DE on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Brookside for work: only 3% work in town. 15% of residents live below the poverty line in Brookside, against 8.1% in Delaware’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. The top destinations are Wilmington (9%), Newark (6%) and New Castle (3%).
| Brookside | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 8.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 5.2% | 8% |
| Work from home | 15% | 15% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Delaware towns, with expected losses of about $332 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
At 72 of 100, Brookside’s FEMA risk score is where Delaware’s towns sit at 33 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. Since 1994, 19 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Brookside.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
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 24.6°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 92% of Delaware places with climate records; July afternoons average 87.2°.
Brookside has chilly winters and warm summers.
| Brookside | 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
People 65 and older are 13% of residents (21% statewide). The median age in Brookside is 36.1 years. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Delaware.
| Brookside | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 36.1 years | 40.8 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 23% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 29% | 35% | 29% |
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.9 points). Across Delaware, 51.6% of residents are women.
| Brookside | DE | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.7% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.9% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.2% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.7% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.7% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.1% | 11.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.7% | 14% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.6% | 12.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.5% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.3% | 8.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33% | 28.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.7% | 18.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.5% | 20.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.5% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
0.8 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Hann Park, at 27 acres.
| Brookside | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 13% | 16% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hann Park | 0.4 mi | 27 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Brookside beats the Delaware average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 77% of adults had a checkup this year in Brookside.
| Brookside | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 77% | 81% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| What stands out | Brookside | DE |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.5% | 9.1% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 25.6% | 28.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 18.3% | 13.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
62% of Brookside households own their home.
| Brookside | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,444 a month | $1,424 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
6 within 15 miles of the center of Brookside
About 6 of every 100 Brookside residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Delaware.
Census-designated place in Delaware, United States
Brookside is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. As of the 2020 census, Brookside had a population of 14,974.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Brookside.
Brookside reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Brookside with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Brookside grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #29 of 37 in Delaware. It grades C+ for health and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
The typical home is worth about $280,000, 31% below the Delaware typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
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