Cities with highest divorce rate in Delaware research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Delaware’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Delaware based on the percentage of currently divorced residents. Here are the results of our analysis:
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The city with the highest divorce rate in Delaware is Frederica based on the most recent Census data.
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Frederica is 12.0% Divorced.
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The city with the lowest divorce rate in Delaware is Dagsboro.
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Dagsboro is 1.0% Divorced.
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Delaware is 4.0% Divorced.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
There are some 31,796 people living in Delaware over fifteen years of age who are divorced. You can compare that to the 28,339,199 Americans who are currently divorced in 2024.
Many people decide to run away – or split up – across the First State.
Isn’t the divorce rate in America close to 50%? Yes indeed. But we’re measuring something else; we are looking at counts and percentages of people over 15 years old who are currently divorced. That 50% statistic is for the percentage of people who have ever been divorced.
For today’s analysis, the focus will be on the number of currently divorced people.
So now that we have you biting your nails, rethinking your worldview, and pulling out your hair, let’s look at the places in Delaware with the highest rates of divorcees.
The 10 Cities In Delaware With The Highest Divorce Rates
Let’s quickly recap before we dive into the Saturday Night Science behind the data.
What is the city in Delaware with the highest divorce rate? That would be Frederica, with 12.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data.
What is the overall Delaware divorce rate? According to the 2018-2022 Community Survey, the overall divorce rate in Delaware is 4.0%, which compares to the US divorce rate of 10.9%.
Alrighty, on to how we calculated the places with the highest divorce rates in Delaware.
For more Delaware reading, check out:
The 10 Places With The Highest Divorce Rate In Delaware For 2024
1. Frederica
Population: 1,001
Divorce Rate: 12.0%
Divorcees: 96
Median Income: $63,200
More on Frederica: Real Estate
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3. Bellefonte
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Population: 1,526
Divorce Rate: 10.0%
Divorcees: 122
Median Income: $81,563
More on Bellefonte: Real Estate
4. Greenwood
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Population: 1,556
Divorce Rate: 8.0%
Divorcees: 99
Median Income: $68,418
More on Greenwood: Real Estate
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Population: 6,194
Divorce Rate: 7.0%
Divorcees: 346
Median Income: $70,773
More on Elsmere: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 11,714
Divorce Rate: 7.0%
Divorcees: 655
Median Income: $53,472
More on Milford: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 71,034
Divorce Rate: 6.0%
Divorcees: 3,409
Median Income: $54,731
More on Wilmington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
How We Determined The Places In Delaware That Get Un-Hitched The Most
Since this is the 58th category of rankings we are compiling for the site, we had a pretty good idea of where to find data on marriage and divorce in America. We used Saturday Night Science to look at the U.S. Census Bureau on divorce rates. Because who likes tracking misery more than the U.S. government?
Specifically, we looked at the 2018-2022 American Community Survey table S1201 — Marital Status.
Pretty straightforward on that front — we just had to extract the following column of data:
- Population 15 Years and Over -> Divorced
There are some interesting/fun/sad data like .1% of female Americans aged 15-19 are divorced, but 0% of males (That’s probably a rounding issue, but still).
But the national data is for another day. Today, the analysis focuses on the 34 places in Delaware with a population of over 1,000.
We ranked each place by the percentage of divorcees over 15 years of age from highest to lowest. We crowned the divorce capital of Delaware the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Frederica.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Dagsboro, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Delaware.
We updated this article for 2024 and this list is our fifth time ranking the cities in Delaware with the highest divorce rates.
Getting Some Closure In Delaware After Untying The Know
Besides just coming up with what we thought would be a great new blog/book title, “Untying the Knot In Delaware: Life After Divorce,” we now have a sense of what places in the First State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in Delaware are Frederica, Harrington, Bellefonte, Greenwood, Elsmere, Milford, Milton, Laurel, Wilmington, and Clayton.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Delaware could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce.
And that’s probably for the best. Getting out of a toxic relationship is much better than staying in it.
Just make sure you have your running shoes ready to go.
For more Delaware reading, check out:
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Delaware
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frederica, DE | 1,001 | 96 | 12.0% |
| 2 | Harrington, DE | 3,770 | 301 | 10.0% |
| 3 | Bellefonte, DE | 1,526 | 122 | 10.0% |
| 4 | Greenwood, DE | 1,556 | 99 | 8.0% |
| 5 | Elsmere, DE | 6,194 | 346 | 7.0% |
| 6 | Milford, DE | 11,714 | 655 | 7.0% |
| 7 | Milton, DE | 3,349 | 160 | 6.0% |
| 8 | Laurel, DE | 3,954 | 189 | 6.0% |
| 9 | Wilmington, DE | 71,034 | 3,409 | 6.0% |
| 10 | Clayton, DE | 3,978 | 190 | 6.0% |
| 11 | Smyrna, DE | 12,870 | 514 | 5.0% |
| 12 | Wyoming, DE | 1,888 | 75 | 5.0% |
| 13 | New Castle, DE | 5,523 | 220 | 5.0% |
| 14 | Delaware City, DE | 1,932 | 77 | 5.0% |
| 15 | Felton, DE | 1,136 | 36 | 4.0% |
| 16 | Georg, DE | 7,247 | 231 | 4.0% |
| 17 | Cheswold, DE | 1,639 | 52 | 4.0% |
| 18 | Seaford, DE | 8,055 | 257 | 4.0% |
| 19 | Dover, DE | 38,879 | 1,244 | 4.0% |
| 20 | Millsboro, DE | 6,876 | 165 | 3.0% |
| 21 | Middl, DE | 23,573 | 565 | 3.0% |
| 22 | Newport, DE | 1,145 | 27 | 3.0% |
| 23 | Delmar, DE | 2,398 | 57 | 3.0% |
| 24 | Bridgeville, DE | 2,590 | 62 | 3.0% |
| 25 | Townsend, DE | 2,728 | 43 | 2.0% |
| 26 | Rehoboth Beach, DE | 1,357 | 21 | 2.0% |
| 27 | Newark, DE | 30,655 | 490 | 2.0% |
| 28 | Lewes, DE | 3,339 | 53 | 2.0% |
| 29 | Selbyville, DE | 2,907 | 46 | 2.0% |
| 30 | Millville, DE | 2,052 | 16 | 1.0% |
| 31 | Bethany Beach, DE | 1,064 | 8 | 1.0% |
| 32 | Camden, DE | 3,914 | 31 | 1.0% |
| 33 | Ocean View, DE | 2,660 | 21 | 1.0% |
| 34 | Dagsboro, DE | 1,338 | 10 | 1.0% |