Property tax by ZIP code in Delaware
Enter a Delaware ZIP and see the median property tax paid, median home value, and effective tax rate from the 2020–2024 American Community Survey — plus how it compares to the Delaware state median.
Look up a Delaware ZIP code
Enter a 5-digit Delaware ZIP code above to see its property tax data.
ZIP doesn't have ACS data — typically because it's a PO-box-only ZIP, a single-business ZIP, or a small area where the Census suppresses small-sample estimates. Try a nearby ZIP.
ZIP isn't a Delaware ZIP code. This page covers Delaware only. Other states are launching state by state — check back, or use our state-by-state median page in the meantime.
Delaware's effective property-tax rate is among the lowest in the country — around 0.50% of value statewide. The headline tax rates printed on a bill look almost unbelievably tiny (fractions of a dollar per $100 of value), and there's a specific reason: a court-ordered reassessment just reset every property to current market value for the first time in decades, and state law requires those reassessments to be revenue-neutral — so the rates were cut hard as the assessed values jumped.
Enter a 5-digit Delaware ZIP to see its median property tax, median home value, and effective rate from the US Census American Community Survey 2020–2024 vintage, plus how it compares to the Delaware state and US national medians. The explainer below covers the May 2020 court ruling that forced the statewide reassessment, why the new rates are so low, the new five-year reassessment requirement, and the Senior School Property Tax Credit.
How Delaware property tax works
For decades, Delaware's three counties taxed property off frozen base-year values — New Castle from 1983, Kent from 1987, and Sussex all the way back to 1974 — so a home's "assessed value" had little to do with what it was actually worth. In May 2020 the Delaware Court of Chancery, in a case brought by the NAACP of Delaware and others, ruled those outdated assessments unconstitutional. That forced the first general reassessment in over 40 years: each county hired Tyler Technologies to revalue every parcel at current fair market value — Kent and Sussex as of July 1, 2023 (effective tax years 2024 and 2025), and New Castle as of July 1, 2024 (effective FY2026). To stop a repeat, House Bill 62 (2023) now requires each county to reassess at present fair market value at least every five years.
That reset is why Delaware's headline rates look so tiny. State law requires a reassessment to be revenue-neutral — a county can't quietly pocket a windfall just because property values were restated. So as assessed values jumped from frozen 1970s–80s levels to 2023–24 market value, the rates had to fall to match. New Castle County's residential rate dropped from $0.8054 to $0.1575 per $100 of value, and Kent reset to $0.0572 per $100. The dollar bill didn't necessarily shrink — the math behind it just changed shape.
Delaware's main homeowner relief is the Senior School Property Tax Credit, which covers 50% of the regular school property tax on a primary residence, up to $500, for owners age 65 and older. Eligibility includes a Delaware domicile requirement — generally 10 consecutive years for those who established residency on or after January 1, 2018 (3 years for 2013–2017, and no waiting period for residents established before 2013, who qualify at 65). The application deadline is April 30 and the prior year's bill must be paid in full. The state funds the credit, but each county administers it locally.
Why your actual bill differs
The numbers above describe a typical homeowner in this ZIP — not your specific bill. A few things move bills away from the median:
- Overlapping levies. Your bill stacks county, school-district, and (in incorporated towns) municipal taxes, so two similar homes in different school districts can owe different amounts.
- The reassessment reset. Each county just moved from a frozen base year to current market value at a revenue-neutral rate, so homes that had been under- or over-assessed under the old rolls can land above or below the ZIP median after the reset.
- Senior relief. The Senior School Property Tax Credit covers half the regular school tax (up to $500) on a qualifying owner's primary residence, pulling that bill below the median.
Delaware has no single statewide bill lookup — billing runs through the counties. New Castle County's online parcel search is a working example; for Kent and Sussex, use the corresponding county's property or assessment site.
Methodology
Data on this page comes from the US Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 vintage (released January 29, 2026), at the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) level. After filtering ZCTAs the Census suppresses for privacy or small-sample reasons, this page covers 63 Delaware ZIPs.
Topcoding in Delaware. The Census caps median property tax at $10,000, reporting anything higher as $10,001. Delaware's comparatively modest bills keep essentially every ZIP below the cap, so the figures here are true medians.
See the full methodology page for source details (Census table IDs, the comparison-median rule, calculator formulas), how we handle topcoding across every state, and the refresh cadence.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the median tax in my ZIP different from what I pay?
Median is the middle of the distribution, not your bill. Delaware's three counties just completed their first reassessments in decades, so assessed value now tracks the market, and your bill stacks county, school, and any municipal levies. The Senior School Property Tax Credit moves a qualifying owner further from the median.
Why might my ZIP show $10,001 as the median tax?
That's the Census topcode for privacy, but it's essentially absent in Delaware — comparatively modest bills keep medians under the $10,000 cap, so the figures here are true medians.
Where do I find my actual Delaware property tax bill?
Through your county. Delaware has no statewide portal; New Castle, Kent, and Sussex each bill and collect. New Castle County's online parcel search is a working example.
When does Delaware data update on this page?
Annually, when the Census Bureau releases a new ACS 5-year vintage. The 2020–2024 vintage released January 29, 2026. The next vintage (2021–2025) typically follows the next year, though the Census has not yet posted its release date.
Why don't you cover other states yet?
State-by-state rollout. Each state needs its own context section (assessment method, exemptions, local taxing structure) to be genuinely useful. High-search-volume states are going live first.