Local costs · Delaware
What a home costs across Delaware
Property-tax rates, insurance, and closing costs vary widely by county. Below are the state-wide rules that apply everywhere in Delaware, then every county with its own tax rate and insurance range.
Statewide facts
- Home insurance average
- About $1,103 per year for a standard HO-3 policy (NAIC 2022 state average). Individual counties run above or below this based on local hazard risk — see the table below.
- Transfer & recording tax
- Delaware transfer tax (buyer half): 2.00% of price — buyer customarily paysDelaware transfer tax (seller half): 2.00% of price — seller customarily paysFirst-time buyers get a 0.5% reduction on the buyer's state share (first $400k). A few areas without a local tax charge 2.5% state-only; 4% is standard.On the $371,600 state median home, the buyer’s customary share is about $7,432; the seller customarily covers about $7,432.
- Title insurance
- Delaware uses competitive (filed) rates. Rates are competitive rather than state-set, so we model title and settlement from a national declining-rate curve calibrated to published costs.
- State income tax
- Delaware income tax is modeled at about 4.93% effective for a married household at $100,000 (5.26% filing single). These are modeled effective rates from Tax Foundation 2026 brackets.
All 3 counties in Delaware
Effective property-tax rate (Census ACS) and a typical annual insurance range at the state median home value. Select a county for the full breakdown.
| County | Property tax | Insurance / yr |
|---|---|---|
| Kent County | 0.43% | $810–$1,800typical $1,240 |
| New Castle County | 0.71% | $540–$1,200typical $830 |
| Sussex County | 0.32% | $1,000–$2,230typical $1,540 |
* Property-tax rate is approximate because the county’s Census median is top-coded.
How these numbers are built
Every figure comes from public data or our own math: Census ACS property taxes, NAIC insurance averages scaled by FEMA risk, and researched transfer-tax and title schedules.
Estimates, not advice. See the methodology for sources, vintages, and the honest gaps.