Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
7,834 people live in this town in Delaware.
Much to like here, and you pay for it. Where it does best is health — CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 97% of the country. At B+ overall, North Star ranks 8th of 37 in Delaware. That leaves it better than nearly three quarters of U.S. towns. It also does well on incomes (A): the median household earns $151K. The drawback is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $584K, 6.4 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income. White Clay Creek State Park, at 643 acres with 6.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Nearly a quarter of the land locally is conserved, where Delaware’s towns sit at 14% and U.S. towns at 4.3%.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · OpenStreetMap · USGS PAD-US.
Where North Star beats most towns.
Where North Star’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 North Star is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 8,277 in 2000, 8,056 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2022 and 7 maps from 1901 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around North Star. Close and well known come first.
Big draw34 mi MuseumUSS New Jersey
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaLincoln Financial Field
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaXfinity Mobile Arena
Big draw34 mi Ancient siteIndependence Hall3.0M visitors a year
Big draw33 mi MuseumEastern State Penitentiary
Big draw39 mi MuseumLynnewood HallUSS 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 · Lynnewood Hall: Shuvaev, CC BY-SA 3.0
North Star 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 North Star.
North Star is the healthiest town in Delaware, has colder winter nights than almost anywhere else in Delaware and has more trail for its size than nearly any town in Delaware.
At 1.4 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #3 of 22 Delaware towns.
Walkers can cover 9.4 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. In North Star, the concentration of trails is 1.4 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. White Clay Creek State Park | 6.8 mi | 643 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Red Clay Consolidated School District runs its public schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. 589 students attend North Star’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Star Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 589 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within DE on state tests and graduation
It is the healthiest of the 37 Delaware towns we grade on the CDC estimates behind the Health Grade. Its widest gap with Delaware is tooth loss: 4.6% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 12.7% statewide.
Just over one in ten adults report frequent mental distress in North Star. No town among the 37 in Delaware we compare has a lower share of adults who worry about having enough food than North Star. Two figures for adults locally: 27% feel lonely, 29% sleep under 7 hours. This Delaware town beats the Delaware average on 24 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| North Star | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 37% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 6.9% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | North Star | DE |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.6% | 12.7% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.3% | 13.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.4% | 9.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
North Star has 759 jobs for its 3,471 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here grew from 401 in 2013 to 759.
The share of residents in North Star who live below the poverty line: 3.5%. Most people who work leave North Star to do it: just 4% work in town. Jobs in North Star grew by 358 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 759. Only 2 of the 37 Delaware towns we compare have a higher typical household income than North Star.
| North Star | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $151,000 | $80,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 21% | 15% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 3.5% | 8.3% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.9% | 5.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The natural-hazard score from FEMA for North Star comes to 30 of 100. FEMA puts three quarters of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 6% to cold waves. One flood insurance claim has been paid locally since 2004.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 23.4°, the lowest of 79 Delaware places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.4°. The Wilmington New Castle Co Ap weather station, 9 miles away, records that 20 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, the highest of 79 Delaware places with climate records.
No town among the 37 in Delaware we compare has a lower January low than North Star. Among 37 Delaware towns, just 3 have a lower midsummer high than North Star.
| North Star | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 86°F | 87°F | 85°F |
| January low | 23°F | 25°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 6.4 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 86% of Delaware towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $4,798, against $1,768 across Delaware, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
86% of North Star households are owner-occupiers. A home in North Star typically sold within 33 days of listing. In North Star, the typical sale closed at 98.8% of the list price.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
7 within 15 miles of the center of North Star
About 5 of every 100 North Star residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Delaware.
9 places in North Star on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Delaware, United States
North Star is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. As of the 2020 census, North Star had a population of 8,056.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with North Star.
| Town | DE rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Star | #8 | B+ | C | — | B− | A+ |
| Hockessin | #5 | A− | C− | — | B | A+ |
| Pike Creek | #4 | A− | C | — | B | A |
North Star, Hockessin and Pike Creek report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare North Star with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. North Star grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns and #8 of 37 in Delaware. It grades A+ for health and B− for schools.
The typical home is worth about $584,000, 44% above 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 C.
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