Dover, Delaware demographics

Dover, DE demographics: median age 34.7; 26.7% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Dover city, Delaware · Incorporated city · GEOID 1021200. The survey estimates a population of 39,837 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Dover is 34.7 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.4 years. There are 15,428 households (±611). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	34.7 ±1.4	41.6 ±0.2	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 39,837
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
Under 18	8,073 ±786	20.3% ±2.0 pp	20.7%	22.0%
18–34	12,040 ±881	30.2% ±2.2 pp	21.1%	22.8%
35–64	12,740 ±957	32.0% ±2.4 pp	37.6%	38.0%
65 and older	6,984 ±654	17.5% ±1.6 pp	20.6%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 39,837
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
Male	18,012 ±650	45.2% ±1.6 pp	48.4%	49.5%
Female	21,825 ±649	54.8% ±1.6 pp	51.6%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 39,837
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
White alone	14,362 ±1,048	36.1% ±2.6 pp	59.9%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	18,416 ±1,230	46.2% ±3.1 pp	21.9%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	55 ±46 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.9%
Asian alone	1,168 ±283	2.9% ±0.7 pp	4.3%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	50 ±61 · low precision	0.1% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race alone	1,241 ±394	3.1% ±1.0 pp	4.6%	7.1%
Two or more races	4,545 ±813	11.4% ±2.0 pp	8.8%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 39,837
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	35,557 ±706	89.3% ±1.8 pp	89.0%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	4,280 ±709	10.7% ±1.8 pp	11.0%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 15,428
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
Married-couple family	4,851 ±452	31.4% ±2.7 pp	47.2%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	327 ±144	2.1% ±0.9 pp	4.7%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	2,777 ±400	18.0% ±2.5 pp	13.2%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	6,231 ±667	40.4% ±4.0 pp	28.5%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	1,242 ±307	8.1% ±2.0 pp	6.3%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 15,428
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
Households with people under 18	4,280 ±419	27.7% ±2.5 pp	27.4%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	11,148 ±808	72.3% ±4.4 pp	72.6%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 15,428
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	6,231 ±667	40.4% ±4.0 pp	28.5%	28.7%
Two-person households	4,528 ±565	29.3% ±3.5 pp	35.9%	33.8%
Three-person households	1,943 ±388	12.6% ±2.5 pp	15.4%	15.3%
Four-person households	1,509 ±336	9.8% ±2.1 pp	12.3%	12.6%
Five-person households	531 ±181	3.4% ±1.2 pp	4.9%	5.9%
Six-person households	235 ±160 · low precision	1.5% ±1.0 pp · low precision	2.0%	2.2%
Seven or more people	451 ±200	2.9% ±1.3 pp	1.1%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 39,837
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
Native	35,506 ±990	89.1% ±2.5 pp	89.3%	85.9%
Foreign born	4,331 ±986	10.9% ±2.5 pp	10.7%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 37,916
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
English only	32,597 ±1,111	86.0% ±2.8 pp	84.9%	77.7%
Spanish	2,059 ±450	5.4% ±1.2 pp	7.9%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	1,685 ±827	4.4% ±2.2 pp	1.0%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	107 ±81 · low precision	0.3% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.5%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	5 ±11 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	310 ±171 · low precision	0.8% ±0.5 pp · low precision	1.7%	2.0%
Korean	111 ±110 · low precision	0.3% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	1 ±7 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.8%	1.1%
Vietnamese	0 ±27 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	449 ±248 · low precision	1.2% ±0.7 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	174 ±109 · low precision	0.5% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.8%	1.1%
Arabic	111 ±105 · low precision	0.3% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	307 ±165 · low precision	0.8% ±0.4 pp · low precision	1.1%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 25,112
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	2,044 ±425	8.1% ±1.7 pp	8.3%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	8,091 ±789	32.2% ±3.0 pp	28.8%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	6,117 ±741	24.4% ±2.9 pp	18.8%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	2,150 ±385	8.6% ±1.5 pp	8.3%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	3,947 ±668	15.7% ±2.6 pp	20.4%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	2,763 ±518	11.0% ±2.0 pp	15.3%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 39,640
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Delaware	U.S.
Same house	33,754 ±686	85.2% ±1.7 pp	89.3%	87.7%
Moved within same county	2,495 ±529	6.3% ±1.3 pp	5.3%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	1,017 ±336	2.6% ±0.8 pp	1.1%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	2,228 ±374	5.6% ±0.9 pp	3.9%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	146 ±124 · low precision	0.4% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.5%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

7.6% of Dover residents (±1.7 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 6.3% in Delaware and 8.4% nationally. 91.3% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Dover	Delaware	U.S.	Compared with Delaware
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	7.6% ±1.7 pp	6.3%	8.4%	Not statistically different
Households with a broadband subscription Households	91.3% ±0.9 pp	92.4%	91.0%	Lower
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	9.3% ±1.4 pp	7.4%	6.2%	Higher

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Dover . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Dover housing and cost context or return to the city profile.