What is the population of Dover city?

Dover city has 39,491 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #2 of 79 in Delaware.

What is the median household income in Dover city?

Median household income in Dover city is $58,336 a year, 25.7% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Dover city?

Median gross rent is $1,252 a month and the median home value is $248,500, so rent absorbs about 25.8% of median household income.

Is Dover city affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 4.3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Dover city is less affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 25.8% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

Aerial view of a dense city center, illustrating the US cities ZIP code directory

Delaware · Census place 21200

Dover, DE population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Dover, Delaware (Dover, DE — Census place “Dover city”) is 39,491 residents, ranking #2 of 79 places in Delaware. Median household income is $58,336, the median home is worth $248,500 and median gross rent runs $1,252 a month. Looking for the Dover Delaware ZIP code list? 3 ZIP codes serve Dover, DE: 19901, 19902, 19904.

Population: 39,491Dover city residents
Median household income: $58,336Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $248,500Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $1,252Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 35.1 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 47%Owner-occupied households

Dover ZIP codes (Delaware)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Dover.

The Dover DE ZIP code list below covers 3 ZIP codes. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

What the numbers mean in Dover city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Dover city median would spend about 25.8% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 4.3× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 17.5% of residents and 47% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Dover city, DE in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Dover city is a small city in Delaware, with 39,491 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #2 of 79 ranked by population — larger than 98% of them. The median age here is 35.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Dover city earn a median of $58,336 a year, 25.7% below the national figure of $78,538 and 22% below the $75,000 median for the 54 Delaware cities we cover. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 17.5% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Dover city is valued at $248,500, 18.1% below the national figure and 11% below the $280,200 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,252 a month, 11% below the national figure, or roughly $15,024 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 25.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 4.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 47% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

Compare with nearby places

Places of similar size in Delaware.

More Delaware coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Dover city?: Dover city has 39,491 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #2 of 79 in Delaware.
What is the median household income in Dover city?: Median household income in Dover city is $58,336 a year, 25.7% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Dover city?: Median gross rent is $1,252 a month and the median home value is $248,500, so rent absorbs about 25.8% of median household income.
Is Dover city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 4.3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Dover city is less affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 25.8% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Dover city data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.