Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Harrington gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $278K for a typical one, or 3.7 years of the Dover metro’s $74K median household income. It grades B− overall, 19th among Delaware's 37 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. It reports more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, including 20 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. On the outdoors, just 5 of Delaware’s 54 towns do worse. Harrington has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Vogl House and St. Stephen's P.E. Church. Among 24 Delaware towns, just 2 have a lower typical home value than Harrington.
Where Harrington beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Delaware), ordered by how far Harrington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 745 in 1880, 3,774 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1906 and 5 maps from 1918 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Harrington, 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 Harrington.
Harrington trades workers with Dover and other neighbors and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Delaware.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 89% of U.S. communities. Since 1984, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Harrington.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Lake Forest School District. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chipman (W.T.) Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 905 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within DE on state tests and graduation
At 5 per 1,000 residents, Harrington’s violent crime rate is above both Delaware’s towns (3.5) and U.S. towns (1.6). Harrington reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 79% report less. Harrington’s property crime rate is 18.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Harrington | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5 per 1,000 residents | 3.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.4 per 1,000 residents | 17.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Harrington home is worth about $278,000, up 1% in a year, 31% below the Delaware typical home. 65% of Harrington households own their home, where Delaware’s towns sit at 70% and U.S. towns at 73%.
| Harrington | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,277 a month | $1,441 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Children under 18 are 32% of residents (21% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 28% of residents (38% statewide). 13% of Harrington residents are 65 or older. Among 37 Delaware towns, just 3 have a lower median age than Harrington.
| Harrington | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 32.2 years | 40.8 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 35% | 29% |
57% women, 43% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±9.3 points. Across Delaware, 51.6% of residents are women.
| Harrington | DE | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 22.7% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.4% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.2% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 22.2% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.1% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 5.3% | 11.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.8% | 14% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.2% | 12.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.3% | 8.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.7% | 28.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.3% | 18.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.7% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 10.4% | 20.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.5% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,000, single groups can be off by several points
Harrington beats the Delaware average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 43% of adults have obesity in Harrington. Only 2 of the 37 Delaware towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Harrington.
| Harrington | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 35% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Harrington | DE |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.9% | 6.9% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.9% | 9.1% |
| More adults with obesity | 43.1% | 35.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Greenwood 2ne weather station, 8 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 200 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 88% of Delaware places with climate records.
Harrington has chilly winters and warm summers. The July high in Harrington is 88°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Harrington has about as many jobs (1,696) as working residents, but only 132 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 1,123 in 2013 to 1,696.
Most working residents leave Harrington for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Harrington grew to 1,696 in 2023, 573 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Dover (14%), Milford (10%) and Georgetown (3%).
| Harrington | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 6.9% | 8.3% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Harrington. Close and well known come first.
15 mi MuseumAir Mobility Command Museum
33 mi Ancient siteWye House
28 mi LandmarkFort Miles
30 mi Theme parkFunland (Rehoboth Beach, Delaware)
25 mi MuseumZwaanendael Museum
36 mi MuseumNaval Air Station Wildwood Aviation MuseumAir Mobility Command Museum: Teamski1, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wye House: Historic American Buildings Survey, Public domain · Fort Miles: Unknown, Public domain · Funland (Rehoboth Beach, Delaware): Tsole, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zwaanendael Museum: Smallbones, CC0 · Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum: Smallbones, CC0
None within 15 miles of Harrington; the nearest are
About 8 of every 100 Harrington residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Delaware.
3 places in Harrington on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Harrington.
City in Delaware, United States
Harrington is a city in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover metropolitan statistical area. Harrington hosts the annual Delaware State Fair each July. The population was 3,774 in 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Harrington grades B− overall, better than 47% of U.S. towns and #19 of 37 in Delaware. It grades C for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Within Delaware, it does better than 48% of towns.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
3 notable people were born here, including Annie Arniel and Bryan Robinson.
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