Compare cities and metro areas ranked by the 2024 BEA cost-of-living index in Delaware. 1 metro areas are available.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Dover, DE has the lowest overall Regional Price Parity in this Delaware ranking at 97.5. The national average is 100, so this comparison identifies the lowest relative price level among the metro areas BEA reports; it does not estimate a household budget or citywide inflation.
A data-shaped reading
The sequence below follows the strongest decision signal in this state's component mix, metro spread, retained-release movement, and national-benchmark coverage.
Latest retained release
From 2023 to 2024, Dover, DE's overall RPP rose by 5.6 points. The largest component move was rents, which changed by + 26.8 points. Because RPP is relative to the national price level, this describes movement against the U.S. benchmark, not literal deflation or inflation in a household's bills.
Strength of the lead
BEA reports only 1 metros in this state ranking: Dover, DE and . Their overall indexes differ by 0.0 points. The small roster makes the comparison easy to audit, but it cannot represent rural communities or places outside a reported metropolitan area.
Component driver
Dover, DE's rents index is 95.9, compared with 96.4 for goods and 97.2 for services. That places housing 1.6 points below the metro's overall index. Housing is technically the lowest component, though the narrow gap means the affordability case is broadly shared rather than rent-dependent.
National benchmark coverage
All 1 metros in this ranking sit below 100, with an average overall index of 97.5. That makes the low-price pattern broader than a single outlier. It still does not cover nonmetro communities, and a lower price level says nothing by itself about local wages.
| # | Metro | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dover, DE | 97.5 |
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities Index where national average = 100
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.