Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Georgetown earns a D, better than 6% of U.S. towns, mostly because of safety and health. It reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, including 59 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 91% of the country. One bright spot: natural-hazard risk is low. Georgetown’s property crime rate is 44.1 per 1,000 residents, against 17.3 in Delaware’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Old Sussex County Courthouse and First Broiler House. Among 37 Delaware towns, just 1 have a lower median household income than Georgetown.
Where Georgetown beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Old Sussex County Courthouse
Census counts: 777 in 1850, 7,134 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1933 and 6 maps from 1917 on.
18 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Delaware), ordered by how far Georgetown is from typical.
Its grades run from A for hazard risk (better than 90% of comparable towns) to D− for safety (better than 3%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Georgetown, and how to reach them.
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 Georgetown.
Georgetown draws workers from Milford and beyond, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Delaware rate and has household incomes well below the Delaware norm.
Violent crime runs at 7.1 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Delaware rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. At 73.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 81% of Delaware’s graded towns.
Georgetown’s violent crime rate is 7.1 per 1,000 residents. Georgetown reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Indian River School District. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Sussex Academy, with 1,182 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 861 | B− |
| Sussex AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 1,182 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within DE on state tests and graduation
6,804 jobs are based in Georgetown, 2.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Georgetown for work: only 13% work in town. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Georgetown. Since 2013, Georgetown has added 1,235 jobs, to 6,804 in 2023.
| Georgetown | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 8.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 4.5% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
31% of Georgetown adults say their health is fair or poor. Of the 37 Delaware towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Georgetown. 36% of Georgetown adults feel lonely.
| Georgetown | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 18% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 27% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 14% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Georgetown | DE |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.6% | 9.1% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 25.8% | 28.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 26.7% | 9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The FEMA risk score in Georgetown is 8 of 100. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Georgetown since 2006.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3.5 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Georgetown Little League, at 20 acres.
| Georgetown | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.5% | 16% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Georgetown Little League | — | 20 |
| 2. Layton Park | — | 11 |
| 3. Circle Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Georgetown has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 27° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
71.4% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 49.6% across Delaware.
The typical Georgetown home is worth about $371,000, about the same as a year ago, 8% below the Delaware typical home.
| Georgetown | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,410 a month | $1,441 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Georgetown. Close and well known come first.
37 mi Theme parkMorey's Piers
17 mi LandmarkFort Miles
30 mi National SeashoreAssateague Island National Seashore2.3M visitors a year
30 mi MuseumAir Mobility Command Museum28 mi Theme parkJolly Roger Amusement Park
17 mi Theme parkFunland (Rehoboth Beach, Delaware)Morey's Piers: Smallbones, CC0 · Fort Miles: Unknown, Public domain · Assateague Island National Seashore: Fritz Geller-Grimm, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Air Mobility Command Museum: Teamski1, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Funland (Rehoboth Beach, Delaware): Tsole, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Georgetown; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Georgetown residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Delaware.
6,422 counted in 2010 and 7,134 in 2020; an estimated 8,291 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 15.5% since 2020, after 11.1% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
18 places in Georgetown on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Georgetown.
Town and county seat in Delaware, US
Georgetown is a town in and the county seat of Sussex County, Delaware, United States. As of the 2020 census, Georgetown had a population of 7,134. Georgetown is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Georgetown grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns. It grades D for health, D− for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 4.6 years of the area's median household income ($81,497 across the Seaford, DE area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
12 notable people were born here, including Willard Saulsbury Jr. and Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert.
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