Kent County, Delaware: commercial real estate data.
Kent County, Delaware has a population of 187,604 across 586 square miles, up 6.0 percent since the 2020 census base. County output reached $11.65 bn in 2024, 4,971 establishments operate here, and the SBA record carries 208 7(a) approvals worth $61.6 m.
123 sourced county values · tier FULL · 11 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
Kent County
How many people live in Kent County
- Population187,604
- Households71,424
- Average household size2.63
- Median household income$74,477
- Median age38.8
- Median gross rent$1,354 per month
- Median owner-occupied home value$316,600
- Home value to household income4.3 times
- Annual rent as a share of median income21.8 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher27.5 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree11.1 percent
- Adults 25 and over126,457
- Population under 1842,721
- Share under 1822.8 percent
- Population 65 and over34,294
- Share 65 and over18.3 percent
- Working age population, 18 to 64110,589
- Civilian labor force90,399
- Unemployment rate5.8 percent
- Labor force participation, adults 18 and over62.4 percent
- Rank by population among Delaware counties3rd of 3
- Rank by population among US county-equivalents368th
Kent County is the 3rd largest of 3 Delaware counties by population. A median home costs 4.3 times median household income, which is an affordable ownership market by national standards. Residents under 18 outnumber those 65 and over, at 22.8 percent against 18.3 percent, a household formation profile rather than a retirement one.
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year.
Kent County
Is Kent County's population growing?
- Population change since the 2020 census base5.96 percent
- Census 2020 base population181,844
- Births, 20242,135
- Deaths, 20242,008
- Natural change, 2024127
- Net domestic migration, 20241,738
- Net international migration, 2024688
- Total net migration, 20242,426
- Cumulative net domestic migration, 2021 to 20248,845
- Rank by growth among US county-equivalents414th
The county has grown 5.96 percent since the 2020 census base. Migration contributed more to 2024 change than births over deaths, so demand here follows people arriving rather than families forming.
US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024, Vintage 2024, estimates 2020 to 2024.
Kent County
Where are people moving to Kent County from?
- Tax returns filed by households arriving5,473
- People arriving, from those returns10,231
- Adjusted gross income arriving$316.7 m
- Net adjusted gross income movement$0
- Average income of an arriving household$57,874
- Largest single originKent County Non-migrants (68,336 households)
- Largest single destination (68,336 households)
| Origin | Households | People | Adjusted gross income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent County Non-migrants | 68,336 | 136,052 | $4.65 bn |
| Other flows - Different State | 1,995 | 3,661 | $118.6 m |
| New Castle County | 1,096 | 2,092 | $64.5 m |
| Other flows - South | 982 | 1,806 | $54.8 m |
| Sussex County | 770 | 1,448 | $35.6 m |
| Other flows - Northeast | 486 | 861 | $35.0 m |
| Other flows - West | 325 | 605 | $18.8 m |
| Philadelphia County | 257 | 547 | $14.2 m |
The largest single source of arrivals is Kent County Non-migrants, which is the catchment a retail or multifamily study should look at first.
US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Kent County
What is the Kent County economy?
- County GDP, 2024$11.65 bn
- County GDP, 2023$10.77 bn
- GDP change, 2023 to 20248.2 percent
- GDP change over five years36.8 percent
- Rank by GDP among Delaware counties3rd
- Rank by GDP among US county-equivalents392nd
- GDP per resident$62,111
Output grew 8.2 percent in the latest year and 36.8 percent over five, which is the trend line a lender will read behind any single year figure.
US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024.
Kent County
Largest employers in Kent County
- Covered employment, annual average71,071
- Establishments reporting5,852
- Average annual pay$57,464
- Average weekly wage$1,105
- Sector 62, employment10,779
- Sector 62, average annual pay$55,966
- Sector 44-45, employment8,993
- Sector 44-45, average annual pay$36,994
- Sector 56, employment3,331
- Sector 56, average annual pay$57,855
- Sector 54, employment2,860
- Sector 54, average annual pay$82,963
- Sector 23, employment2,808
- Sector 48-49, employment2,732
| Sector | Employment | Establishments | Average annual pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sector 62 | 10,779 | 1,058 | $55,966 |
| Sector 44-45 | 8,993 | 553 | $36,994 |
| Sector 56 | 3,331 | 633 | $57,855 |
| Sector 54 | 2,860 | 918 | $82,963 |
| Sector 23 | 2,808 | 499 | $75,867 |
| Sector 48-49 | 2,732 | 177 | $54,716 |
| Sector 52 | 1,816 | 304 | $95,410 |
| Sector 81 | 1,650 | 357 | $45,179 |
The largest sector is the biggest private employer group at 10,779 jobs, 15.2 percent of covered employment. Average pay per job sits below median household income, so households here typically need more than one earner.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages.
Kent County
How many businesses are in Kent County?
- Establishments, all industries4,971
- Employment at those establishments61,078
- Annual payroll$3.53 bn
- Establishments per 1,000 residents26.5
These are counts of establishments physically operating in the county, not listings, so they are the supply side a feasibility study measures demand against.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023.
Kent County
Building permits in Kent County
- Housing units authorised by permit, 20241,201
- Declared construction value permitted$173.9 m
- Single family units authorised1,056
- Multifamily units authorised145
- Multifamily share of units12.1 percent
- Average declared value per unit$144,833
- Units authorised per 1,000 households16.8
Multifamily is 12.1 percent of units authorised, so the pipeline is predominantly for sale product.
US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual.
Kent County
SBA loans in Kent County (7(a) and 504)
- 7(a) approvals recorded208
- 7(a) gross approval dollars$61.6 m
- Average 7(a) approval$296,232
- Median 7(a) approval$75,000
- 10th percentile approval$20,000
- 90th percentile approval$627,000
- Largest single approval$5,000,000
- Jobs reported supported, 7(a)1,752
- Jobs per approval8.4
- Distinct 7(a) lenders active32
- Distinct industries receiving approvals109
- Median 7(a) term120 months
- Share of loans on real estate terms, 240 months or longer6.7 percent
- Loans on real estate terms14
- Loans on working capital terms, 120 months or shorter182
- Franchise loans20
- Franchise share of approvals9.6 percent
- Leading industry by approval countFull-Service Restaurants (11)
- Most active lenderManufacturers and Traders Trust Company (81)
- 504 approvals recorded19
- 504 gross approval dollars$10.5 m
- Average 504 approval$554,368
- Median 504 approval$423,000
- Distinct CDCs active4
- 504 jobs per approval7.2
- 504 jobs per million dollars approved12.9
- Most active CDCDelaware Community Development Corporation (13)
- 7(a) share of SBA approvals91.6 percent
- Combined SBA approval dollars$72.1 m
The average approval of $296,232 sits well above the median of $75,000, so a small number of large deals is pulling the mean up. The median is the better guide to what a typical borrower here actually gets. Only 6.7 percent of approvals run on real estate terms, so SBA credit here is mostly working capital and equipment rather than property acquisition.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30. US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Kent County
SBA loan default and charge-off rates in Kent County
Do SBA loans in Kent County get paid back?
- Loans with a final outcome recorded35
- Paid in full27
- Charged off8
- Charge off rate on resolved loans22.9 percent
- Status: Exempt from disclosure133
- Status: Paid in full27
- Status: Cancelled30
- Status: Charged off8
- Status: Committed, not yet disbursed10
Of the 35 loans that have reached a final outcome, 22.9 percent were charged off. This is computed only over resolved loans, because a loan still running has not yet succeeded or failed and counting it either way would be wrong.
Compare against the national and state SBA charge-off rates, computed the same way over resolved loans only.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Kent County
SBA lending by place in Kent County
- Places in the county with recorded lending16
- Dover, approvals114
- SMYRNA, approvals20
- Harrington, approvals15
- Camden Wyoming, approvals14
- Clayton, approvals14
- Hartly, approvals7
| Place | Approvals | Gross approval dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Dover | 114 | $33,921,900 |
| SMYRNA | 20 | $6,188,400 |
| Harrington | 15 | $10,514,500 |
| Camden Wyoming | 14 | $4,376,200 |
| Clayton | 14 | $1,868,700 |
| Hartly | 7 | $2,083,000 |
| FELTON | 7 | $803,000 |
| MILFORD | 5 | $195,000 |
Dover accounts for 114 approvals against 20 in SMYRNA. County level figures average over that gap, which is why a site decision is made at the submarket rather than the county.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Kent County
How large is Kent County?
- Land area586 sq mi
- Rank by land area among Delaware counties2nd of 3
- Width, east to west24.1 mi
- Height, north to south37 mi
- Geographies sharing a boundary2
- Residents per square mile of land320
- Establishments per square mile8.48
US Census Bureau county boundary geometry, TIGER, adjacency computed from shared boundary vertices, TIGER county boundaries. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year. US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- No NFIP communities are listed for this county in the FEMA Community Status Book.
- Flood zone record counts are not held. The flood coverage export has not landed, so no count is shown rather than an estimated one.
- Traffic counts resolve in the platform, not in this dataset, so no AADT figure is printed here.
- Zoning is in build. Parcel level zoning is not published on this page.
Feasibility studies
When a Kent County site needs a document a lender will accept.
The same data layer behind this page is the one the studies are written from. A study for a Kent County site starts with the figures you are reading, carrying the same source and period into the credit file.
- Population187,604
- Households71,424
- Average household size2.63
- Median household income$74,477
- Median age38.8
Common questions
Kent County questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Kent County, Delaware?
187,604, in 71,424 households, ranking 3rd of 3 Delaware counties. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year.
Is Kent County's population growing?
The population has grown 5.96 percent since the 2020 census base. In 2024 there were 2,135 births against 2,008 deaths, with net migration of 2,426. Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024, Vintage 2024, estimates 2020 to 2024.
What is the median household income in Kent County?
$74,477. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $316,600, which is 4.3 times income, and median gross rent is $1,354 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year.
How many businesses are in Kent County?
4,971 establishments, employing 61,078 people with an annual payroll of $3.53 bn. These are establishments physically operating in the county, not listings. Source: US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023.
What is the average wage in Kent County?
Average annual pay is $57,464, or $1,105 a week, across 71,071 covered jobs. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages.
How much SBA lending happens in Kent County?
208 7(a) approvals totalling $61.6 m since FY2020, across 32 lenders, with a median approval of $75,000, plus 19 504 approvals worth $10.5 m. These are approvals recorded in the release, not loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans in Kent County get paid back?
Of the 35 loans that have reached a final outcome, 27 were paid in full and 8 charged off, a charge off rate of 22.9 percent. Loans still running are excluded, because they have not yet succeeded or failed.
How many building permits were issued in Kent County?
1,201 housing units were authorised by permit in 2024, with a declared construction value of $173.9 m. Multifamily was 12.1 percent of units. Source: US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual.
What is the radon zone for Kent County?
Zone 3, a predicted average indoor radon screening level less than 2 pCi/L. Source: US EPA, Map of Radon Zones, county spreadsheet, 2024-05 publication, EPA 402/A-16/001.
Where do people moving to Kent County come from?
The largest single origin is Kent County Non-migrants, with 68,336 households. Arriving households report an average income of $57,874 against null for those leaving. Source: US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Are traffic counts available for Kent County on this page?
No. Annual average daily traffic resolves in the platform rather than in this dataset, so no AADT figure is printed here. It is a gap we know about rather than a figure we estimated.
Is zoning published for Kent County?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning, and where a statutory framework applies it is marked as the statewide frame with confirm locally attached.
Kent County
Cities and places in Kent.
27 Census places lie wholly or partly in Kent County. 27 carry enough published place level data for a page of their own and are linked. The rest are named here and not linked, because the American Community Survey and the SBA record between them do not carry enough about them to write an honest page. A place existing is itself worth knowing, so nothing in the county is left out.
| Place | Type | Population | SBA approvals | Lies in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover | city | 39,837 | 114 | Wholly in this county |
| Smyrna | town | 13,165 | 24 | 78.8 percent here, 21.2 percent New Castle County |
| Milford | city | 12,803 | 32 | 40.1 percent here, 59.9 percent Sussex County |
| Clayton | town | 4,222 | 15 | 89.6 percent here, 10.4 percent New Castle County |
| Rising Sun-Lebanon | CDP | 4,163 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Camden | town | 4,106 | 1 | Wholly in this county |
| Harrington | city | 3,838 | 15 | Wholly in this county |
| Highland Acres | CDP | 3,752 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Dover Base Housing | CDP | 2,962 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Riverview | CDP | 2,596 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Kent Acres | CDP | 2,388 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Woodside East | CDP | 2,274 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Cheswold | town | 2,143 | 1 | Wholly in this county |
| Wyoming | town | 2,000 | 2 | Wholly in this county |
| Rodney Village | CDP | 1,331 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Felton | town | 1,294 | 7 | Wholly in this county |
| Frederica | town | 1,062 | 2 | Wholly in this county |
| Woodside | town | 475 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Houston | town | 456 | 1 | Wholly in this county |
| Kenton | town | 355 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Magnolia | town | 274 | 3 | Wholly in this county |
| Bowers | town | 270 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Farmington | town | 201 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Hartly | town | 199 | 7 | Wholly in this county |
| Leipsic | town | 191 | 1 | Wholly in this county |
| Viola | town | 178 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
| Little Creek | town | 141 | None recorded | Wholly in this county |
A further 15 SBA approvals in Kent County are recorded against borrower cities that match no Census place, the largest being Camden Wyoming, Marydel. Those are postal cities and unincorporated areas rather than incorporated places, so no page claims them, and their lending is counted in this county's totals above rather than under any city.