The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
New Castle County is a county of Delaware with 577,961 residents. Its economy produced $75,964 million in 2024 (ranked #1 of 3 counties) and had 303,806 jobs with an average annual pay of $80,334 (#1 for pay). The unemployment rate was 4.6% in 2026M09. It is part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area (central county).
New Castle County produced about $75,964 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 68.5% of the combined output of the 3 counties of Delaware that BEA reports (about 56.6% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 1st of 3 on that measure. Per resident that is $131,434, 21% above the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $108,669. In current dollars output grew 6.6% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 303,806 jobs located in New Castle County on average in 2024, spread over 27,696 employer sites (about 11 jobs per site). That is 0.53 jobs for every resident, above the 0.38 of the typical county in Delaware, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $80,334, 12% above the average of all counties in the state ($80,334 against $71,794). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 1.2% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (20.7% of private jobs, $73,518 a year on average), finance and insurance (15.0% of private jobs, $133,584 a year on average), retail trade (11.1% of private jobs, $40,563 a year on average). Together they hold 46.9% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is professional and technical services at $136,043 a year, followed by finance and insurance ($133,584). The county is specialised in an industry: finance and insurance (3.1 times the US share, 38,330 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($40,563), accommodation and food services ($26,289). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in New Castle County was 4.6%, about the same as the average of the state's counties (4.6% against 4.6%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 299,137. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 4.1% (2026M05) to 5.5% (2026M01); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $91,166 (ACS 2020–2024), 7% above the state median ($91,166 against $84,954). The guide covers 16 cities with this as the main county: Wilmington, Newark, Middletown, Bear, Glasgow, Brookside, Hockessin, Pike Creek Valley. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,155 in Wilmington Manor to $3,501 in Hockessin, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to New Castle County in output are Sussex County, Kent County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 3 counties of Delaware ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 577,961 | 1 of 3 |
| GDP 2024 | $75,964 million | 1 of 3 |
| GDP per resident | $131,434 | 1 of 3 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 303,806 | 1 of 3 |
| Average annual pay | $80,334 | 1 of 3 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +1.2% | 2 of 3 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 4.6% | 2 of 3 |
| Median household income | $91,166 | 1 of 3 |
Federal jobs in Delaware (103) →All cities of DelawareState guide: Delaware
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is New Castle County (and 2 more that extend into it).
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | 71,727 | $58,671 | $1,224 | $231,400 | 33.1% |
| Newark | 30,330 | $76,912 | $1,654 | $382,500 | 58.2% |
| Middletown | 24,661 | $112,831 | $1,583 | $409,600 | 44.0% |
| Bear | 22,370 | $91,687 | $1,771 | $304,800 | 32.5% |
| Glasgow | 15,546 | $113,982 | $2,039 | $373,900 | 37.7% |
| Brookside | 15,115 | $78,328 | $1,444 | $279,700 | 29.1% |
| Hockessin | 13,439 | $171,204 | $3,501 | $568,800 | 66.3% |
| Pike Creek Valley | 12,431 | $102,434 | $1,751 | $340,300 | 50.8% |
| Claymont | 8,786 | $74,712 | $1,306 | $276,600 | 35.9% |
| Wilmington Manor | 8,214 | $78,078 | $1,155 | $240,600 | 21.5% |
| North Star | 7,834 | $150,733 | n/a | $583,700 | 72.7% |
| Pike Creek | 7,129 | $139,635 | $2,262 | $422,500 | 50.2% |
| Edgemoor | 6,349 | $59,424 | $1,438 | $290,400 | 37.9% |
| Elsmere | 6,203 | $67,944 | $1,339 | $225,800 | 15.1% |
| New Castle | 5,579 | $89,205 | $1,739 | $285,100 | 33.8% |
| Greenville | 3,713 | $142,844 | $1,620 | $1,062,500 | 79.3% |
| Smyrna | 13,165 | $67,048 | $1,534 | $291,400 | 21.6% |
| Clayton | 4,222 | $107,307 | $1,621 | $361,300 | 32.1% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 53,019 | 20.7% | $73,518 | 1.22 |
| Finance and insurance | 38,330 | 15.0% | $133,584 | 3.11 |
| Retail trade | 28,448 | 11.1% | $40,563 | 0.94 |
| Accommodation and food services | 22,568 | 8.8% | $26,289 | 0.82 |
| Professional and technical services | 21,314 | 8.3% | $136,043 | 1.01 |
| Administrative and waste services | 18,126 | 7.1% | $58,651 | 1.01 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 17,908 | 7.0% | $53,068 | 1.39 |
| Construction | 14,737 | 5.8% | $82,564 | 0.92 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 7,942 | 3.1% | $49,665 | 0.87 |
| Wholesale trade | 7,885 | 3.1% | $99,479 | 0.66 |
| Management of companies | 6,875 | 2.7% | $169,611 | 1.34 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 6,380 | 2.5% | $28,381 | 1.25 |
| Educational services | 4,206 | 1.6% | $58,414 | 0.67 |
| Real estate and rental | 3,959 | 1.5% | $77,220 | 0.84 |
| Information | 2,443 | 1.0% | $102,185 | 0.43 |
| Utilities | 1,543 | 0.6% | $143,198 | 1.34 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 299,137 |
| Employed residents | 285,355 |
| Unemployed residents | 13,782 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.6% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 303,806 |
| Employer sites | 27,696 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Castle County | 577,961 | $75,964 million | $131,434 | 303,806 | $80,334 | 4.6% |
| Sussex County | 255,626 | $23,356 million | $91,367 | 94,273 | $55,078 | 4.2% |
| Kent County | 187,604 | $11,652 million | $62,111 | 71,071 | $57,464 | 5.0% |
577,961 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$75,964 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
4.6% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
303,806 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $80,334 (BLS QCEW).