Delaware cost of living
Prices in Delaware run at 99.8 against a national average of 100, which makes it the 20th most expensive of the 51 jurisdictions. Housing is the part that separates states: rents there sit at 102.0.
Where the difference actually is
Delaware sits at 99.8, which is as close to the national average as this series gets. Places at the average are rarer than people assume, and it means a dollar here goes about as far as a dollar anywhere.
The parts move together here rather than pulling against each other: goods at 96.2, rents at 102.0, other services at 103.8. That is less common than it sounds. In most places rents sit well away from the other two, and the overall figure is really a housing figure in disguise.
A salary here goes further than the same salary somewhere at 100. Divide by 99.8 and multiply by 100 to get the nationally comparable figure, and it will come out higher than the headline.
The vertical line is the national average of 100. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, SARPP, 2024.
What it costs, in actual money
Parities are ratios. These are the figures behind them for Delaware, drawn from the other datasets on this site.
| Delaware | |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $326,800 |
| Median gross rent | $1,341 a month |
| Median household income | $82,855 |
| Average electricity bill | $165 a month |
| Effective property tax | 0.53% |
Metro areas in Delaware
Within a state, cities and rural areas diverge sharply. A statewide parity averages over that.
| Metro area | All items | Goods | Rents | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | 102.6 | 96.8 | 113.1 | #50 |
| Dover | 97.5 | 96.4 | 95.9 | #120 |
Delaware cost of living: common questions
Is Delaware expensive to live in?
Prices overall are 0.2% below the national average, at a parity of 99.8 where 100 is the country as a whole. It ranks #20 of 51. Goods run at 96.2, rents at 102.0 and other services at 103.8.
What is a salary in Delaware really worth?
The median wage there is $51,030. Adjusted for local prices that buys what $51,132 buys nationally. A state that pays well and costs more can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows it.
What is a regional price parity?
An official measure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, set at 100. It is built from the same price collection that underlies the consumer price index, extended to compare places rather than time periods. It is the only government measure of cost of living differences between states.
Why is housing treated separately?
Because it carries most of the difference. In Delaware rents sit 2.2 points above the state's overall parity. Goods barely vary between states, since most of them are shipped nationally; services vary more; housing varies enormously. Any cost of living comparison that does not separate housing is mostly measuring housing anyway.