Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 7,129 residents in Delaware.
Where it does best is incomes (A+) — the median household earns $140K. It is strong on health as well: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 94% of the country. The catch is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $422K, 4.6 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income. Overall, that makes an A−, better than 81% of U.S. towns. Its place in the ranking is 4th of 37 in Delaware. Just over a third of the land in Pike Creek is conserved, above both Delaware’s towns (14%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). This Delaware town has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church and Eastburn-Jeanes Lime Kilns Historic District. The town’s going rate for rent is $2,262 a month, where Delaware’s towns sit at $1,424 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · USGS PAD-US · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Pike Creek beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Pike Creek | DE |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.7% | 12.7% |
Where Pike Creek’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 Pike Creek is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 10,163 in 1990, a peak of 19,751 in 2000, 7,808 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2022 and 3 maps from 1953 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pike Creek. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi MuseumUSS New Jersey
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaLincoln Financial Field
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaXfinity Mobile Arena
Big draw32 mi Ancient siteIndependence Hall3.0M visitors a year
Big draw32 mi MuseumEastern State Penitentiary
Big draw37 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
Pike Creek 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 Pike Creek.
Pike Creek gets more snow than almost anywhere else in Delaware, keeps more of its land conserved than most of Delaware and has less tooth loss than most of Delaware.
Its widest gap with Delaware is tooth loss: 5.7% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 12.7% statewide. Against the 3,604 U.S. towns with household incomes like Pike Creek’s, it is healthier than 78%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Pike Creek: 21% of adults have been diagnosed with depression. Only 3 of the 37 Delaware towns we compare have a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Pike Creek. 13% of adults in Pike Creek report frequent mental distress; 28% have obesity.
| Pike Creek | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 37% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 36% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Pike Creek | DE |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.7% | 12.7% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.5% | 13.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Independence School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 445 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within DE on state tests and graduation
Its 593 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other Delaware town.
1.1 miles of trail. Pike Creek’s density of trails is 0.4 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For most workers, Pike Creek is a place to come home to: only 2% work in town. The average commute locally is 29 minutes. The top destinations are Wilmington (14%), Newark (4%) and Hockessin (3%). In Pike Creek, 18% of workers do their job from home.
| Pike Creek | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $140,000 | $80,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 1.3% | 8.3% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 18% | 15% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Wilmington New Castle Co Ap weather station, 7 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 24.1°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 95% of Delaware places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.8°.
Its peak summer temperature is 87°F.
| Pike Creek | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 87°F | 87°F | 85°F |
| January low | 24°F | 25°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in Pike Creek than in 61% of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims locally since 1999: one.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median property tax bill is $3,278, against $1,768 across Delaware, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
A home in Pike Creek typically sold within 37 days of listing. The median sale price was $464,000 in September 2026. For households here, the share who live in a home they own is 88%.
| Pike Creek | Delaware towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,262 a month | $1,424 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 88% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
7 within 15 miles of the center of Pike Creek
About 6 of every 100 Pike Creek residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Delaware.
3 places in Pike Creek on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Delaware, United States
Pike Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States and is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. In 2007, CNN's Money Magazine ranked Pike Creek number 1 on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. Pike Creek was the only community in Delaware to appear on the list. The population was 7,808 at the 2020 Census. Local attractions include Middle Run Natural Area, White Clay Creek State Park, Carousel Farm Park and Equestrian Center, Golf and Restaurants. Pike Creek is approximately five miles from downtown Newark, which contains the University of Delaware. Pike Creek is connected to the University of Delaware campus and the New…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Pike Creek.
At #4 in DE, it grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Hockessin (A−) comes closest.
| Town | DE rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pike Creek | #4 | A− | C | — | B | A |
| Pike Creek Valley | #15 | B | C+ | — | B− | A |
| North Star | #8 | B+ | C | — | B− | A+ |
| Hockessin | #5 | A− | C− | — | B | A+ |
Pike Creek, Pike Creek Valley, North Star and Hockessin report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Pike Creek with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Pike Creek grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #4 of 37 in Delaware. It grades A for health and B for schools.
The typical home is worth about $423,000, 4% 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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