See how Dover has changed since 2000

Background figures entered by hand, not updated automatically.

Jobs, housing, crime, schools, and population in Dover, year by year. Each section names where its figures came from.

Jobs, housing, and energy costs over time

Since 2000, Dover median home values went from $118,000 to $335,000, up 58.0% since 2019 alone. Median household income grew 65.0% over 26 years, from $38,669 to $63,800. In 2026, 52.0% of renters paid more than 30% of income on rent.

From U.S. Census estimates, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Zillow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Energy Information Administration, and Dover electric tariffs.

Year	Median home value	Median rent	Renters over 30% of income	Median income	Poverty rate	Unemployment	Gas per gallon	Dover electric, 1,000 kWh
2000	$118,000	$615/mo	38.2%	$38,669	13.8%	3.9%	$1.51	8.4¢/kWh ($89.50)
2001	$124,500	$635/mo	39%	$39,400	14.1%	4.1%	$1.44	8.4¢/kWh ($89.50)
2002	$133,000	$660/mo	40.1%	$40,100	14.4%	4.5%	$1.38	8.5¢/kWh ($90.50)
2003	$146,000	$690/mo	41.2%	$41,200	14.6%	4.6%	$1.59	8.6¢/kWh ($91.50)
2004	$165,000	$725/mo	42.5%	$42,500	14.8%	4.2%	$1.88	8.8¢/kWh ($93.50)
2005	$189,000	$765/mo	44%	$43,800	15.1%	4%	$2.30	9.2¢/kWh ($97.50)
2006	$208,000	$810/mo	45.4%	$45,200	15.3%	3.6%	$2.61	11.8¢/kWh ($123.50)
2007	$215,000	$845/mo	46.8%	$46,800	15.5%	3.8%	$2.81	13.4¢/kWh ($139.50)
2008	$206,000	$880/mo	48.2%	$47,500	16.4%	5.3%	$3.29	14.1¢/kWh ($146.50)
2009	$194,000	$905/mo	49.5%	$46,900	17.8%	8.3%	$2.35	13.9¢/kWh ($144.50)
2010	$186,000	$928/mo	50.4%	$46,422	18.6%	8.9%	$2.78	13.6¢/kWh ($141.50)
2011	$181,000	$945/mo	50.8%	$46,800	19.1%	8.2%	$3.54	13.2¢/kWh ($137.50)
2012	$178,000	$960/mo	51%	$47,200	19.5%	7.8%	$3.63	12.8¢/kWh ($133.50)
2013	$181,500	$975/mo	50.2%	$47,800	19.2%	7.3%	$3.51	12.5¢/kWh ($130.50)
2014	$185,000	$990/mo	49.6%	$48,500	18.8%	6.2%	$3.36	12.4¢/kWh ($129.50)
2015	$190,000	$1015/mo	48.9%	$49,300	18.4%	5.3%	$2.42	12.2¢/kWh ($127.50)
2016	$195,000	$1035/mo	48.5%	$50,400	18.1%	4.9%	$2.15	12¢/kWh ($125.50)
2017	$201,000	$1060/mo	48.2%	$51,600	17.9%	4.8%	$2.43	11.9¢/kWh ($124.50)
2018	$206,500	$1085/mo	47.9%	$52,800	17.6%	4.3%	$2.72	11.9¢/kWh ($124.50)
2019	$212,000	$1110/mo	47.5%	$54,100	17.4%	4.1%	$2.58	11.8¢/kWh ($123.50)
2020	$229,000	$1145/mo	48.8%	$54,900	18.2%	10.4%	$2.18	11.8¢/kWh ($123.50)
2021	$264,000	$1220/mo	49.4%	$56,800	17.9%	6.1%	$3.02	11.8¢/kWh ($123.50)
2022	$298,000	$1325/mo	50.6%	$58,900	18%	4.7%	$3.97	12.6¢/kWh ($131.50)
2023	$314,000	$1410/mo	51.2%	$60,450	17.8%	4.3%	$3.49	13.4¢/kWh ($139.50)
2024	$326,000	$1465/mo	51.5%	$61,800	17.7%	4.1%	$3.31	13.8¢/kWh ($143.50)
2025	$333,000	$1510/mo	51.8%	$62,900	17.6%	4.2%	$3.14	14.2¢/kWh ($149.50)
2026	$335,000	$1545/mo	52%	$63,800	17.5%	4.2%	$3.08	14.9¢/kWh ($156.90)

Homeless counts over time

Statewide winter counts from Housing Alliance Delaware. In January 2025 Kent County counted 266 people (234 sheltered, 32 unsheltered) out of 1,585 statewide. The published sheet gives county figures for 2025 only, so earlier Kent County figures are not shown.

Dover shelters and housing grants

Year	Delaware total	Sheltered	Unsheltered	Kent County	Note
2025	1,585	1,418	167	266 (234 sheltered, 32 unsheltered)	Kent County: 234 sheltered and 32 unsheltered. Statewide: 1,418 sheltered and 167 unsheltered, 1,585 total, which the source reports as a 16% increase from 2024.
2024	1,358	1,120	238	Not in source	Statewide count. County figures for this year are not in the source used here.
2023	1,245	1,047	198	Not in source	Statewide count. County figures for this year are not in the source used here.
2022	2,369	2,215	154	Not in source	Statewide count. The source notes shelter capacity increased in 2022 using federal COVID-19 resources.
2021	1,342	1,342	Not counted	Not in source	Sheltered only. The source states no unsheltered count was conducted in 2021 due to COVID-19.
2020	1,165	1,015	150	Not in source	Statewide count. County figures for this year are not in the source used here.
2019	921	826	95	Not in source	Statewide count. County figures for this year are not in the source used here.

Crime and traffic crashes over time

State crime data for Dover Police shows total offenses peaked at 6,270 in 2007 and fell 27.0% to 4,578 in 2023, the latest complete reporting year. A 2025 Dover Police trend estimate is 4,290, down 31.6%. Juvenile arrests are down 63.6% since 2006. Dover corridor traffic crashes went from 2,543 in 2010 to 3,211 in 2025.

Delaware Open Data Portal: police crime reports 2002 to 2023, Dover Police trend estimates for 2024 and 2025, and public crash data.

Crime data (state site)

Dover Police reported offenses

Year	Total	Violent	Property	Drug	Cleared	Juvenile arrests
2002	5,491	987	1927	427	50.6%	401
2003	5,988	961	2053	568	48.8%	371
2004	5,589	1040	1892	573	51.2%	438
2005	5,567	1099	1683	653	57.8%	471
2006	6,016	1259	1765	714	60.6%	484
2007	6,270	1308	1920	755	60.5%	469
2008	6,135	1242	2094	697	63.8%	479
2009	5,739	1367	1974	663	61.4%	463
2010	5,847	1239	2193	637	58.7%	426
2011	5,813	1286	2310	601	60.3%	336
2012	5,671	1288	2239	586	61.3%	352
2013	5,394	1148	2146	777	62.4%	342
2014	4,939	1107	1905	684	62.3%	303
2015	5,294	1227	2031	724	60%	264
2016	5,402	1314	1922	791	60.7%	265
2017	4,688	1109	1704	736	60.8%	217
2018	4,903	1214	1839	719	58.4%	202
2019	5,292	1412	2116	606	57.4%	209
2020	4,403	1261	1603	555	56.4%	88
2021	4,716	1428	1544	735	57.8%	92
2022	5,107	1484	1800	702	54%	143
2023	4,578	1366	1837	390	54.4%	204
2024	4,412	1298	1765	384	55.5%	189
2025	4,290	1245	1710	375	56%	176

Dover corridor traffic crashes

Year	Total crashes	Fatal	Injury	Property damage only
2010	2,543	3	361	681
2011	2,541	4	365	659
2012	2,712	5	396	756
2013	2,841	8	472	838
2014	2,770	7	456	920
2015	2,871	11	583	974
2016	2,961	10	580	1141
2017	2,777	6	500	1220
2018	2,848	6	512	1371
2019	2,951	7	497	1588
2020	2,479	4	423	1290
2021	3,202	7	523	1590
2022	3,022	10	478	1443
2023	3,165	6	473	1497
2024	3,117	9	483	1433
2025	3,211	10	427	1736

Schools: graduation, test scores, and teachers over time

In 2025 the 4-year graduation rate was 88.62% in Capital School District, 90.61% at Dover High, and 95.25% in Caesar Rodney. Capital's Smarter Balanced test proficiency went from 49.95% reading and 37.06% math (2016 to 2017) to 25.54% reading and 18.60% math (2026). Yearly dropouts reached 7.0% (134 students) in 2023 and were 4.7% (109) in 2025. Capital classroom teacher positions went from 509.6 in 2021 to 362.1 in 2025, down 28.9%.

From the Delaware Department of Education.

Graduation and dropouts

Year	Capital graduation	Dover High graduation	Caesar Rodney graduation	Capital dropouts	Dover High dropouts
2013	78.44% (6 year)	82.6% (6 year)	81.5%	n/a	n/a
2014	84.49%	88.16%	88.71%	n/a	n/a
2015	83.4%	87.39%	84.46%	2.6% (50)	2.1% (39)
2016	80.71%	83.84%	84.82%	2.7% (52)	1.5% (27)
2017	84.41%	86.32%	89.46%	2.6% (51)	2.3% (43)
2018	77.08%	78.41%	91.37%	3.4% (66)	2.7% (49)
2019	85.04%	88.22%	89.6%	3.2% (61)	2.8% (49)
2020	81.85%	83.52%	84.94%	3.7% (71)	2.8% (50)
2021	83.43%	84.98%	87.76%	2.9% (55)	2.7% (47)
2022	83.99%	87.38%	86.54%	4.3% (80)	3.4% (59)
2023	88.11%	90.61%	89.34%	7% (134)	6.4% (113)
2024	83.97%	85.74%	88.02%	5.2% (120)	5% (107)
2025	88.62%	90.61%	95.25%	4.7% (109)	4.1% (89)

Test proficiency and teachers

Year	Capital reading / math	Dover High SAT reading / math	Caesar Rodney reading / math	Capital teacher positions	Average teacher pay
2015	47.45% / 29.5%	n/a	63.45% / 48.39%	477.0	$56,395
2016	49.95% / 35.64%	n/a	68.85% / 56.52%	464.0	$56,935
2017	48.23% / 37.06%	50.39% / 18.35%	67.43% / 57.35%	460.0	$57,054
2018	45.78% / 36.14%	36.31% / 15.29%	64.71% / 52.07%	483.0	$58,004
2019	44.06% / 33.13%	37.65% / 17.6%	64.71% / 49.73%	492.0	$59,213
2020	Test waived (COVID)	n/a	n/a	493.0	$59,271
2021	28.15% / 12.15%	45.45% / 20.45%	47.29% / 25.9%	509.6	$59,506
2022	29.48% / 15.69%	35.31% / 18.4%	46.96% / 32.22%	482.6	$61,544
2023	28.61% / 16.79%	34.81% / 15.04%	42.4% / 32.62%	444.8	$62,431
2024	25.17% / 16.9%	31.73% / 12.08%	43.63% / 33.32%	402.4	$64,460
2025	24.5% / 18.07%	28.9% / 10.64%	47.97% / 37.61%	362.1	$68,213
2026	25.54% / 18.6%	22.88% / 7.31%	47.97% / 41.17%	n/a	n/a

From grade 3 to after graduation

Latest figures from state datasets, in the order students reach them. Caesar Rodney is shown for comparison.

Grades 3 to 8: Smarter Balanced proficiency

Capital reading: 25.54%
Capital math: 18.60%
Caesar Rodney reading / math: 43.6% / 33.8%

Proficiency data (state site)

Yearly growth target met

Lowest 25% of students, reading: 66.80%
Lowest 25% of students, math: 59.16%
All district students, reading / math: 54.9% / 53.8%

Growth data (state site)

9th graders on track

Dover High (2022): 53.00%
Dover High, low-income students: 39.75%
Caesar Rodney High: 88.58%

On-track data (state site)

Grade 12: graduation and dropouts

Dover High 4-year graduation: 90.61%
Capital dropouts: 4.7% (109)
Caesar Rodney High 4-year graduation: 96.66%

Graduation data (state site)

After graduation: college and career ready

Dover High: 73.59%
Dover High, low-income / students with disabilities: 61.6% / 44.3%
Caesar Rodney High: 89.14%

College and career data (state site)

Teachers and staff

Across 416.4 full-time classroom teacher positions in Capital (667.2 total professional positions), 55.9% hold a master's or doctorate, including 43.0 doctorate positions district-wide. The total school workforce of 1,152.5 full-time positions, average age 44, is 49.7% White (572.5 positions) and 39.5% African American (454.8 positions).

Staff degrees (state site)Staff demographics (state site)

Teacher and administrator pay

In Capital, 40.7% of classroom teachers (169.4 full-time positions) earn $51,000 to $65,000 and 14.3% (59.6 positions) earn $50,000 or less. 3.6% of teachers (15.0 positions) earn more than $100,000, compared to 83.3% of administrators (40.0 of 48.0 positions).

Staff salary ranges (state site)

Lead testing in child care drinking water

The state tested 246 water fixtures across 17 Dover child care sampling rounds. 229 samples (93.1%) tested below 5 ppb, 17 samples reached 5 ppb or more, and 5 fixtures exceeded the 15 ppb EPA action threshold, which requires shutoff, fixture replacement, and re-testing.

Child care lead sampling (state site)

Dover High School sports records

Win-loss records and fall enrollment by school year.

Season	Enrollment	Football	Boys basketball	Girls basketball	Baseball	Softball	Note
2010-11	n/a	6-4	14-6	14-7	9-9	5-12	Pre-reconfiguration baseline: Dover High competitive across Boys Soccer (13-3), Boys Lacrosse (12-4), Girls Basketball (14-7), and Football (6-4).
2015-16	1791	4-6	16-4	10-10	18-2	8-9	Dover High Baseball peaks at 18-2 and Field Hockey reaches 11-5-1 in the modern Dover High Drive stadium complex.
2019-20	1785	6-4	21-2	7-13	COVID-Canceled	COVID-Canceled	Dover High Boys Basketball goes 21-2 before COVID-19 halts the March 2020 DIAA tournament and cancels spring sports.
2022-23	1842	8-5	15-6	10-10	8-10	4-13	Dover High Football reaches DIAA Class 3A State Semifinals (8-5), while non-basketball/non-football club sports begin post-pandemic contraction.
2023-24	1867	9-2	23-2	19-5	14-6	1-16	Peak Dover High enrollment (1,867): Senators Football goes 9-2 (beating Salesianum, Smyrna, Cape, CR), Boys Basketball reaches DIAA State Championship Game (23-2), Girls Basketball goes 19-5, and Polytech Football surges to 10-2.
2024-25	1812	3-6	21-4	12-9	14-6	4-12	Dover High Football drops to 3-6 and Field Hockey/Wrestling struggle (1-14 / 0-8) as DHS classroom teacher FTE contracts to 88.3 FTE, while Boys Basketball wins Henlopen Conference (21-4).
2025-26	1728	1-9 (2026-27: 2-6)	22-2	4-16	8-10	4-14	Suburban Caesar Rodney enrollment hits 2,330 fall / 2,491 EOY (+16.2% since 2015) as CR wins its 20th consecutive Henlopen Founders Cup, rebounds in Football (7-4 / 6-2), and goes 19-3 in Baseball & 12-2 in Wrestling; Dover High Boys Basketball goes 22-2 (Henlopen Champions, DIAA Final Four) while DHS Football (1-9 / 2-6), Boys Soccer (3-11-1), and Field Hockey (2-13) reflect enrollment and socioeconomic headwinds.

Population over time

Dover grew 24.9% from 32,135 in 2000 to 40,120 in 2026, and is projected to reach 41,200 by 2030. Kent County's population age 65 and over went from 14,820 (11.7%) in 2000 to 37,027 (19.5%) in 2026, and is projected to reach 40,295 (20.7%) in 2030.

From the U.S. Census (2000, 2010, 2020), Census estimates, and the Delaware Population Consortium.

Population projections (state site)All trend figures as a data file (JSON)

Year	Dover population	Kent County population	Kent County 65+	Dover Black	Dover White	Dover Hispanic	Dover Asian or other
2000	32,135	126,697	14,820 (11.7%)	37.2%	53.2%	4.1%	5.5%
2005	34,280	143,900	18,130 (12.6%)	39.8%	49.5%	5.3%	5.4%
2010	36,047	162,763	22,154 (13.6%)	42.2%	45.4%	6.6%	5.8%
2015	37,680	173,665	26,975 (15.5%)	43.4%	42.1%	7.8%	6.7%
2020	39,403	181,858	31,343 (17.2%)	44.3%	38.8%	9.1%	7.8%
2022	39,610	185,225	33,201 (17.9%)	44.8%	37.9%	9.5%	7.8%
2024	39,785	187,764	35,126 (18.7%)	45.1%	37.1%	9.9%	7.9%
2025	39,894	189,019	36,072 (19.1%)	45.3%	36.8%	10.1%	7.8%
2026	40,120	190,163	37,027 (19.5%)	45.5%	36.4%	10.3%	7.8%
2030 (projected)	41,200	194,499	40,295 (20.7%)	46.1%	35.2%	10.9%	7.8%

Transit, reentry, and drinking water

State records on physical infrastructure and supervision in Dover and Kent County, with the meetings where council discussed them.

Bus stops without a shelter or bench

Of 459 active DART bus stops in Kent County and Dover (routes 101 to 120, 210, 301 to 307), 355 (77.3%) have neither a shelter nor a bench.

No shelter and no bench: 355 (77.3%)
With a bench: 104 (22.7%)
With a weather shelter: 91 (19.8%)

Sept. 29 council discussion of bus stops Bus stop data (state site)

People under state correction supervision

As of August 2026, the Delaware Department of Correction supervises 3,665 people in Kent County (21.5% of 17,058 statewide). Council has discussed the 150-bed Morris Community Corrections Center on W. Water St and Alderman's Court diversion.

JTVCC prison (Smyrna): 1,585 (43.2%)
Dover probation and parole: 1,350 (36.8%)
Kent restitution supervision: 426 (11.6%)
Kent home confinement: 149 (4.1%)
Morris work release and probation violations: 146 (4.0%)

Oct. 13 and 27 council discussion of Morris Supervision data (state site)

Wells, septic systems, and source water protection

State environmental records for the area the Planning Commission reviews, such as the 165,000-square-foot Garrison Oak Cold Storage Warehouse in a source water protection zone. 19,621 permitted groundwater wells in Dover.

St. Jones River watershed wells: 13,713 permits
Leipsic and Little Creek wells: 7,607 permits
Kent County septic permits: 34,813 (901 sewer)
Regulated aboveground tanks: 547 (182 active)
Dover commercial boilers and vessels: 256 inspected

Council discussion of source water protection Environmental data (state site)