State rental market analysis · DE
Delaware rental markets
5 tracked cities over 20,000 population, 4 ranked and summarized by their median Overall. Every number traces to Census, Zillow and BLS. All states ranked →
Browse every Delaware ZIP Code area → · the full server-rendered index for this state.
Part of the South Atlantic Census division (South region).
The honest read
Delaware ranks #14 of 51 states for rental investing, with a median Overall of 52.2/100 across its ranked cities, above the national median. 4 ranked cities roll up into this grade.
A state grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 4 ranked cities in this state. The national rank compares all 51 states on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | State value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 6.3% | not measured |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.8% | not measured |
| Home value growth | Growth | 4.3% | not measured |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.7% | not measured |
| Job growth | Growth | 1.2% | not measured |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 5.6× | not measured |
| Unemployment | Stability | 3.9% | not measured |
| Rental demand | Stability | 49% renters · 585.4% vacancy | not measured |
| Income growth | Growth | 5.4% | not measured |
Every city in Delaware, ranked
Led by Middletown at 72/100. Click any column to re-sort; every city links to its full shown-math breakdown.
| DE rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middletown | 72 | B | B | B | $537,638 | 6.2% | #46 |
| 2 | Dover | 56 | C | B | C | $345,464 | 5.7% | #437 |
| 3 | Wilmington | 52 | C | C | C | $330,955 | 6.5% | #654 |
| 4 | Newark | 44 | C | C | D | $367,052 | 6.6% | #1075 |
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2019–2023 · Census PEP July 2024 · BLS LAUS county 2023 annual. Generated 2026-09-01. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.
Limited-data cities in Delaware
These 1 cities lack enough measured factors to rank, so they are excluded from the state grade; their pages show exactly what could be measured.
ZIP markets in Delaware
68 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) in Delaware · 48 data-eligible for subscores. These are sub-city government areas ranked separately from the Delaware city table. The overall Rental Investor ZIP Score leaderboard leads; the two component subscores (affordability, rental-market context) follow as independent percentiles. ZIP ranks are shown within the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, city ranks. Vintage: the Key metric column is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), a newer release than the ACS 2019–2023 figures the city table above uses; the same measure can legitimately disagree between the two.
Best overall ZIP Codes in Delaware
Ranked by the overall Rental Investor ZIP Score. The # is each ZIP Code's canonical DE state rank; the smaller figure is its national rank. Separate from the Delaware city table and not directly comparable to it.
| DE rank | ZIP Code | Overallgrade · national | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 19956Laurel | A 72#240 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| #2 | 19966Millsboro | A 72#260 nat | 5.0%Survey yield |
| #3 | 19702Glasgow | A 71#426 nat | 5.7%Survey yield |
| #4 | 19709Middletown | A 70#458 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| #5 | 19963Milford | A 70#537 nat | 4.7%Survey yield |
| #6 | 19901Dover | A 69#639 nat | 6.2%Survey yield |
| #7 | 19701Bear | A 69#677 nat | 5.9%Survey yield |
| #8 | 19973Seaford | A 69#768 nat | 4.9%Survey yield |
| #9 | 19947Georgetown | A 68#845 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #10 | 19950Greenwood | A 67#1,093 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| #11 | 19904Dover | A 67#1,180 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| #12 | 19720New Castle | A 65#1,560 nat | 6.2%Survey yield |
Top affordability ZIP Codes in Delaware
State-scoped leaders on the affordability subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Substantially an inverse housing-cost signal: a component of the overall score, not a predicted return.
| # | ZIP Code | Affordability | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19979Viola | 84#814 nat | 7.1%Survey yield |
| 2 | 19706Delaware City | 82#1,064 nat | 6.9%Survey yield |
| 3 | 19901Dover | 78#1,589 nat | 6.2%Survey yield |
| 4 | 19934Camden | 78#1,589 nat | 5.9%Survey yield |
| 5 | 19960Lincoln | 77#1,707 nat | 5.6%Survey yield |
| 6 | 19953Hartly | 75#2,115 nat | 5.6%Survey yield |
| 7 | 19720New Castle | 74#2,233 nat | 6.2%Survey yield |
| 8 | 19950Greenwood | 74#2,318 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| 9 | 19952Harrington | 74#2,318 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| 10 | 19947Georgetown | 73#2,430 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 11 | 19966Millsboro | 71#2,755 nat | 5.0%Survey yield |
| 12 | 19802Wilmington | 71#2,818 nat | 7.6%Survey yield |
Deepest rental-market ZIP Codes in Delaware
State-scoped leaders on the rental-market-context subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Rental depth/tightness: a separate component, never combined here with affordability.
| # | ZIP Code | Rental market | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19703Claymont | 77#529 nat | 5.9%Survey yield |
| 2 | 19801Wilmington | 73#1,339 nat | 7.2%Survey yield |
| 3 | 19956Laurel | 70#2,110 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| 4 | 19901Dover | 69#2,233 nat | 6.2%Survey yield |
| 5 | 19802Wilmington | 67#2,792 nat | 7.6%Survey yield |
| 6 | 19963Milford | 67#2,866 nat | 4.7%Survey yield |
| 7 | 19805Wilmington | 65#3,522 nat | 6.2%Survey yield |
| 8 | 19807Greenville | 63#4,268 nat | 2.1%Survey yield |
| 9 | 19713Brookside | 62#4,440 nat | 5.4%Survey yield |
| 10 | 19702Glasgow | 61#5,171 nat | 5.7%Survey yield |
| 11 | 19804Newport | 60#5,381 nat | 5.6%Survey yield |
| 12 | 19947Georgetown | 57#6,466 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |