• Research & Data
• Education
• Payment Cards Center
• Bank Resources
• Community Development

• Newsroom
• Careers
• Publications

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

[ – ] Text Size [ + ]  |  Print Page

Home > Community Development > Community Profiles > Dover, DE Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) > Demographics and Economic Data

Community Profile: Dover, DE Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Demographics and Economic Data

Included in this section is a brief summary of demographic and economic data. Detailed data can be accessed through the following websites:

• Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council : The website includes a geocoding/mapping system that allows users to obtain census data based on specific street addresses and a census report system that provides census information by census tract within a county or MSA.
• PolicyMap : This geographic information system, which includes an interactive mapping tool developed by The Reinvestment Fund, allows users to create custom maps, tables, and charts for over 10,000 indicators and provides the ability to plot external data.
• U.S. Census Bureau American FactFinder : Official source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Included below is a summary of the following data:

• Population
• Income
• Poverty Level
• Housing Units
• Housing Permits
• Local Industries
• Unemployment Rate
• Education

Population1

The population of the Dover, DE MSA rose from 110,993 in 1990 to 126,697 in 2000, a 14.1 percent increase. During the same period, the state of Delaware experienced a 17.6 percent increase in population, while the city of Dover grew 17.5 percent.

Table 1 shows the racial composition of the state of Delaware, Dover MSA, and city of Dover based on the 2000 census.  In the city of Dover, 35.8 percent of the population was black or African American, compared to 19.0 percent of the population for the state and 20.2 percent for the Dover MSA. The last line of the table represents the percentage of the total population who stated they were Hispanic or Latino in origin.

The racial composition of the Dover, DE MSA is illustrated in Figure 1.

The racial composition of those who reported they were Hispanic or Latino in origin within the Dover, DE MSA (3.4 percent of the total population for the MSA) is illustrated in Figure 2.

Income

The 1999 household median income for the Dover, DE MSA was $40,950, and the family median income was $46,504. Statewide, the household median income was $47,381, and the family median income was $55,257. In the same year, the household median income for the city of Dover was $38,669, and the family median income was $48,338.1

The term low- and moderate-income persons (LMI) is used for CRA and community development purposes and includes people and communities whose income is less than 80 percent of the area median income. People and communities whose income is less than 50 percent of the area median income are considered low income and those whose income exceeds 50 percent, but does not exceed 80 percent, are considered moderate income.

In 2000, there were 47,199 households within the Dover, DE MSA. Of all households in all census tracts, 22.1 percent were households with low incomes and 16.8 percent were households with moderate incomes. A household's income is not necessarily an indicator of the income of the census tract in which the household resides. As Table 2 indicates, 88.8 percent of all households with low incomes resided in middle- and upper-income census tracts and 87.5 percent of all households with moderate incomes resided in middle- and upper-income census tracts. 2

In 2007, there were 34 census tracts in the Dover, DE MSA. Of the total, there were no low-income tracts and three were moderate-income tracts. In the city of Dover, there were 15 census tracts. Of the total, there were no low-income tracts and only one moderate-income tract.2

Poverty Level1

In 1999, the Dover, DE MSA had 13,083 residents living below the poverty line, or 10.7 percent of the MSA population. Statewide, 9.2 percent of the population was living below the poverty line. The city of Dover had 4,041residents (13.8 percent of the total population) living below the poverty line.

Information about how the U.S. Census Bureau measures poverty is available through its website.

Housing Units1

In 2000, the Dover, DE MSA had a total of 50,481 housing units, of which 93.5 percent were occupied and 6.5 percent were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, 70.0 percent were occupied by the owner, and 30.0 percent were occupied by a renter. The state of Delaware had a total of 343,072 housing units, of which 87.1 percent were occupied and 12.9 percent were vacant. The city of Dover had a total of 13,357 housing units, of which 93.7 percent were occupied and 6.3 percent were vacant.

The reasons for vacancies are illustrated in Figure 3.

Housing Permits3

In January 2007, 115.6 housing permits for new, privately owned houses in the Dover, DE MSA were issued. Of this group, 109.4 housing permits were for 1- to 4-unit homes. These numbers have been seasonally adjusted.

Current information regarding housing permits in MSAs and other areas within the Third Federal Reserve District is available through a database on the Regional Employment, Unemployment, and Selected Statistics page of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Research Department.

Local Industries

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Research Department maintains a database of monthly employment data by industry for the Dover, DE MSA (Excel spreadsheet). Please note that all values for industry employment in this file are in thousands.

Unemployment Rate4

In 2006, the Dover, DE MSA had an annual unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, compared with a rate of 3.6 percent for the state of Delaware. The city of Dover had an annual unemployment rate of 2.9 percent for the same year.

More recent unemployment data are available through the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

Education1

Overall, the Dover, DE MSA population is not well educated: 18.6 percent of the population that is 25 years of age or older has a bachelor’s degree or higher. The population of city of Dover is more well educated: 28.8 percent of the population that is 25 years of age or older has a bachelor’s degree or higher. For the state of Delaware, this figure is 25.0 percent. See Figure 4 for more details.

• 1 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “2000 Census – Summary File 3, ”http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en 
• 2 Source: Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), http://www.ffiec.gov. 
• 3 Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Research Department, “Regional Employment, Unemployment, and Selected Statistics,” http://www.philadelphiafed.org/research-and-data/regional-economy/
• 4 Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Local Area Unemployment Statistics,” 2005 annual data, http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=la 

• Last updated: Monday, October 29, 2007