187,604 people live in Dover, DE, which places it 238th of the 387 metropolitan areas. People, homes, work, and the shape of the local business landscape, drawn from public data.
This is the Dover metropolitan area in Delaware.
The median home value of $316,600 is 5 percent below the national figure. Income in Dover, DE: a median of $74,477 per household against $80,734 nationally, so 8 percent below the national figure. Together they say a good deal about the ticket sizes a local business can expect.
Three quick reads on the people of Dover, DE. The unemployment rate stands at 5.8%, about the same as the US share. The median resident is 38.8 years old, about the same as the national median. 72.5% of homes are lived in by their owners, 7 points above the US share. Among adults 25 and over, 27.5% have at least a bachelor's degree, 8 points below the US share.
How does that compare with the state as a whole? Income in Dover, DE is 12 percent lower than the Delaware figure, the median home value is 10 percent lower than the Delaware figure, and business density is 9 percent thinner than the Delaware figure; the full numbers are on the Delaware page.
There are 4,971 employer businesses in Dover, DE. Density runs 26.5 businesses for every 1,000 residents, 6 percent above the national figure. The home-services trades that most often advertise locally number 216 establishments, a 4.3% share, about the same as the US share.
| Business type | Establishments | Per 100k residents | Share ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automobile dealers | 39 | 20.8 | 1.39× |
| Self-storage facilities | 15 | 8 | 1.36× |
| Child day care services | 64 | 34.1 | 1.31× |
| Electrical contractors | 56 | 29.9 | 1.13× |
| Beauty salons | 51 | 27.2 | 1.02× |
| Roofing contractors | 15 | 8 | 0.99× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 76 | 40.5 | 0.94× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 5 | 2.7 | 0.91× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 23 | 12.3 | 0.90× |
| Personal care services (all) | 83 | 44.2 | 0.87× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 56 | 29.9 | 0.85× |
| General automotive repair | 43 | 22.9 | 0.85× |
| Landscaping services | 58 | 30.9 | 0.83× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 298 | 158.8 | 0.81× |
| Physicians' offices | 96 | 51.2 | 0.74× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 40 | 21.3 | 0.67× |
| General freight trucking | 42 | 22.4 | 0.60× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 8 | 4.3 | 0.58× |
| Dentists | 43 | 22.9 | 0.53× |
| Legal services | 50 | 26.7 | 0.46× |
Ratio above 1.00: the trade holds a bigger share of the local business base than it does nationally; below 1.00, a smaller one.
The market over-indexes on automobile dealers, self-storage operators and child day care services. Automobile dealers lead at 39 establishments, 1.4 times the US share. The thin end of the table is legal services, dentists, concrete contractors and general freight trucking. Legal services are the widest shortfall at 50 establishments, about half of the US share. Roughly where the national mix would put them: roofing contractors, electrical contractors and specialty trade contractors.
Restaurants (298), physicians' offices (96) and personal care services (83) are the biggest categories by establishment count. Relative to population the leaders are restaurants (158.8 per 100,000 residents), physicians' offices and personal care services. Across the groups, automotive businesses run about the same as the US share and legal services about half of.
automobile dealers, self-storage operators and child day care services face a full field here. Each new review, each answered call and each page that matches a specific search is a small edge, and the edges add up. For legal services, dentists and concrete contractors the picture is the opposite. Fewer competing profiles means a complete listing, a fast site and a modest search budget can take a disproportionate share of the searches that exist. Younger residents (median age about the same as the national median) split their attention between search, social feeds and AI assistants, so the presence has to be in all three. With 72.5% of homes owner-occupied, the people searching for a plumber or a roofer here are usually the ones paying the bill, which shortens the sales cycle.
What YelloPost runs for businesses in a market shaped like Dover, DE.
Measurement that ties spend to phone calls and form fills.
An answering service that books and qualifies rather than sending callers to voicemail.
Search advertising that pays for intent, not impressions.
Keeping the Business Profile complete, current and answered so it earns the map placement.
Organic visibility for the searches that do not need an ad to win.
A site built to convert a local search into a phone call or a form.
Dover, DE has 187,604 residents (US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimate), ranking 238th of 387 metropolitan areas.
The median household income in Dover, DE is $74,477 (ACS 2024 5-year), below the US median of $80,734.
The Census Bureau counts 4,971 employer establishments in Dover, DE (County Business Patterns 2023), or 26.5 businesses per 1,000 residents.
The median home value in Dover, DE is $316,600, and 72.5% of homes are owner-occupied (ACS 2024 5-year).
Measured against the US business mix (County Business Patterns 2023), automobile dealers, self-storage operators and child day care services have more establishments per resident than the US average; legal services, dentists and concrete contractors have fewer in Dover, DE.
A quick review of where you show up today, then a plan for where you should.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023. Updated 2026-09-29.