Ocean View, Delaware

Population

Growing. Up 15.8% since 2020.

3,107

people, the 19th-largest of Delaware's cities and towns.

Census Population Estimates, 2025. Rank among Delaware's cities and towns computed by the Almanac. Sources: Census Population Estimates

The workday

Nearly every job here goes to someone who lives somewhere else.

95.7%

of 1,114 jobs located in Ocean View are filled by in-commuters.

Census LEHD LODES, 2023. Sources: Census LEHD LODES

Rent

Median rent is up 56% since the 2005–2009 survey, before inflation.

$1,774

a month. Delaware's median is $1,401.

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024 (latest), with earlier 5-year windows. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

The seam

Cross one tract line and median rent doubles.

A $2,113 gap between neighbors, the sharpest rent edge between adjacent tracts in Sussex County.

• $922 Tract 507.07
• $3,035 Tract 507.08

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024, adjacent tracts compared by the Almanac. Tract estimates carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

Room to build

The median rent is above what local wages can carry.

$732–$1,098

is the monthly rent range local workforce wages support.

• $1,774 median

Supportable rent computed by the Almanac from 2023 source wage data. Median rent: Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Computed by the Almanac, Census ACS 5-year

Building

21% of the housing here was built before 2000.

• 21% of all homes were built before 2000

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

Units needed

Closing the gap would add 0.0–0.4% to the 2,646 homes here.

1–11

is the estimated number of missing housing units, from the lowest to the highest of three estimates.

Range computed by the Almanac from 2023 jobs and household data, using three demand models: 1% of jobs located here, 1% of renter households, and a rate by town size applied to renters. The low end is the lowest of the three and the high end the highest. It is an estimate, not a count. Sources: Computed by the Almanac

Home value

A median home costs 46% more than Delaware's.

$514,200

median home value in Ocean View.

• $514,200 Ocean View
• $352,000 Delaware
• $332,700 U.S.

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year