Dover, DE, Delaware: Populist metro. In 2024, voted D+2%. Republican peak: R+29 in 1984.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+2MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 187,6042024 5-year
- Median household income
- $74,4772024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 58.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 27.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 8.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+18 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+29 in 1984MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Dover, DE, DEOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 44,200 | 42,432 | 87,934 | ||
| D | 44,552 | 41,009 | 87,025 | ||
| R | 33,351 | 36,991 | 74,260 | ||
| D | 35,527 | 32,135 | 68,672 | ||
| D | 36,392 | 29,827 | 66,925 | ||
| R | 23,875 | 31,578 | 55,991 | ||
| R | 22,790 | 24,081 | 48,254 | ||
| D | 18,327 | 15,932 | 39,252 | ||
| R | 15,364 | 15,562 | 40,238 | ||
| R | 12,996 | 19,923 | 33,113 | ||
| R | 11,789 | 21,531 | 33,403 | ||
| R | 12,884 | 14,882 | 29,862 | ||
| D | 16,523 | 12,604 | 29,428 | ||
| R | 10,463 | 17,712 | 28,556 | ||
| R | 9,055 | 11,082 | 24,888 | ||
| D | 12,981 | 9,006 | 22,054 | ||
| D | 10,754 | 10,697 | 21,616 | ||
| R | 9,319 | 10,303 | 19,745 | ||
| R | 9,874 | 10,144 | 20,108 | ||
| R | 8,174 | 8,501 | 16,790 | ||
| D | 7,900 | 7,069 | 15,026 | ||
| D | 9,226 | 8,079 | 17,305 | ||
| D | 9,588 | 7,389 | 17,005 | ||
| D | 8,829 | 6,597 | 15,490 | ||
| R | 5,727 | 8,335 | 14,089 | ||
| D | 6,936 | 6,894 | 14,022 | ||
| D | 7,211 | 6,511 | 13,889 | ||
| D | 4,210 | 3,813 | 8,089 | ||
| D | 4,071 | 3,192 | 7,936 | ||
| R | 4,095 | 4,158 | 8,357 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
12.2%
German
11.2%
English
9.4%
American
6.2%
Italian
5.7%
Polish
2.6%
Scottish
1.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 38.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$74,477
Dover, DE ranks near the middle of US counties.
Dover, DE$74,477
Delaware$84,954
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.8%
Working age (18–64)9.5%
Seniors (65+)8.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
88.6%
speak English only
Spanish4.8%
Other Indo-European3.8%
Other languages1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 68.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Dover metro, anchored by a large military and state-government workforce, recorded a 19.9-point Republican margin in 2024 — a striking result inside one of the most reliably Democratic states on the national map.
The Democratic margin in Dover, DE peaked at eighteen points in 1964. By 2020 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was two points, the most Democratic-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $74,477 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Dover, DE, Delaware — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/20100/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Dover, DE, Delaware vote in 2024?
In 2024, Dover, DE, Delaware voted Democratic by 2.0 points (D+2), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 87,934 votes cast, 44,200 went Democratic and 42,432 went Republican.
What is Dover, DE, Delaware's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Dover, DE, Delaware as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 16 times, Republican 14 times, and other 0 times.
When did Dover, DE, Delaware last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Dover, DE, Delaware voted Republican was 2016.
How many people live in Dover, DE, Delaware?
Dover, DE, Delaware has a population of 187,604 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Dover, DE, Delaware?
Median household income in Dover, DE, Delaware is $74,477 — below the national median of $80,734. The Delaware state median is $84,954.
What is the political history of Dover, DE, Delaware?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Dover, DE, Delaware from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.