German Presbyterian Church and Hortonville Cemetery · Photo: Vonsky87 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Delaware top those of 74% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Delaware are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Poverty touches 14.5% of residents; New York has 14.0%. 27% of workers work from home, next to 15% for New York as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Delaware
Delaware’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Delaware is New York City, 94 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (105) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Home offices are common in Delaware
27% of Delaware workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 810 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Delaware’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Delaware is better than 40% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Delaware’s grade up ($96,146, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Delaware could be anywhere from D to A.
The commute from Delaware, by distance
About 35% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Delaware’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Delaware workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 771 commuters (the 27% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who commutes out of Delaware, and who commutes in
On a workday 619 residents head out to work, 191 work right here, and 972 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Delaware on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
13% of working residents work in New York City
Where Delaware clocks in
13% of workers
11% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The 1,163 jobs based in Delaware
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Delaware, 2013 → 2023: 1,247 → 1,163. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Delaware’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Delaware is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Delaware is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,060 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Delaware households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Delaware’s commuters take a bus or train.
Delaware places 2,974th of 5,641 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 8 | Village of the Branch NY | 1,764 | $174K | 1.5% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 9 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,972 | Spring Valley MN | 2,431 | $66K | 9.3% | 3.9% | 20% | C+ |
| 2,973 | Cambria Township MI | 2,547 | $60K | 8.6% | 3.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,974 | Delaware NY | 2,211 | $96K | 14.5% | 3.6% | 24% | C+ |
| 2,975 | Fruitland NC | 2,398 | $48K | 15.6% | 1.5% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,976 | Fraser CO | 1,543 | $90K | 9.4% | 4.8% | 12% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Delaware, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door is work for 10% of Delaware
The biggest share goes to Callicoon (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Delaware workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | – | C+ | A− | 27 min | $96,146 |
| Callicoon | 6% | C+ | B | 28 min | $92,833 |
| Cochecton | 1% | C | B− | 35 min | $72,292 |
| Fremont | under 2% | C | D− | 29 min | $67,115 |
| Bethel | 3% | C | C | 32 min | $67,048 |
| Jeffersonville | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Jeffersonville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Delaware’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Delaware: questions
What is the median household income in Delaware?
$96,146 (±$27,778) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Delaware?
14.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Delaware?
27 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Delaware work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (13%, 94 mi), Thompson (11%, 18 mi), Callicoon (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Delaware walkable?
Delaware is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Delaware without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Delaware, from the people who make the trip.
More of Delaware
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.