How Big Is Delaware? See Its Size in Miles, Acres, and How It Compares to Other States

Delaware is located on the Eastern Seaboard in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is the nation’s second-smallest state in terms of total area. Here are the details about Delaware’s size, how The First State compares with the sizes of other U.S. states and more.

Square Miles and Kilometers

Delaware’s total area spans 2,489 square miles or 6,446 square kilometers. Of that area, 540 square miles (1,399 square kilometers) is covered by water, giving Delaware a total land area of 1,949 square miles or 5,047 square kilometers.

Lake Ontario has a surface area of 7,323 square miles (18,970 kilometers). It is the smallest of the five Great Lakes, but it is still nearly three times bigger than the state of Delaware.

Speaking of lakes and waterways, nearly twenty-two percent of Delaware’s total area is covered by water. Neighboring Maryland has an almost identical percentage of water coverage. Only Michigan, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts have greater percentages of water coverage than Delaware and Maryland.

Acres

An acre is roughly equivalent to the size of an American football field without the end zones. There are 640 acres in one square mile. Delaware’s area spans 1,592,960 acres. Yellowstone National Park spans 2,219,789 acres, more than 1.3 times the size of the state of Delaware.

Length and Width of Delaware

At its tallest point, Delaware stretches 96 miles (154 kilometers) from north to south. That is twice the north-to-south measurement of Rhode Island.

Delaware spans about 34 miles (55 kilometers) from east to west at its widest point. That is about the same as the width of Vermont, which stretches 36 miles from east to west.

At its narrowest point in the northern third of the state, Delaware shrinks to a width of less than ten miles from the banks of the Delaware River in the east to the state’s border with Maryland in the west.

Other States

As noted at the beginning, Delaware is the second-smallest state in the U.S. Only Rhode Island is smaller than Delaware at just 1,214 square miles (3,144 square kilometers). Delaware is more than twice the size of Rhode Island. 

The next largest state, Connecticut, more than doubles the size of Delaware at 5,543 square miles (14,357 square kilometers). As for the rest of the smallest states in the U.S. (under 10,000 square miles of total area), New Jersey is three and a half times larger than Delaware. New Hampshire outsizes Delaware by 3.75 times. Vermont is over 3.8 times the size of Delaware.

Alaska is the largest U.S. state by a gigantic margin. No other state comes remotely close to its 665,384 square miles (1,723,337 square kilometers) of total area. More than 267 Delawares could fit inside Alaska’s borders!

Texas is the biggest state in the conterminous United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 square kilometers), Texas is nearly the size of 108 Delawares.

California is almost 66 times larger than Delaware. Montana outsizes The First State by 59 times.

Delaware accounts for just 0.07% of the total area of the United States. Rhode Island accounts for only 0.04% of the United States. Meanwhile, a staggering 17.48% of the United States is found in the state of Alaska. Texas accounts for 7.07% of the U.S.

State Borders

Delaware shares borders with three states. It is bordered by New Jersey to the northeast, Pennsylvania to the north, and Maryland to the west and south. It borders the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and Atlantic Ocean to the east. The Delaware River is the longest free-flowing river (no dams) east of the Mississippi River.

Delmarva Peninsula

Delaware is situated on the Delmarva Peninsula, sometimes known simply as Delmarva. The peninsula is formed by parts of three states: Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. “Delmarva” is a mashup of these three state names.

The peninsula stretches 170 miles (274 kilometers) from north to south. To the east, the peninsula is bordered by the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by the Chesapeake Bay to the west and Pocomoke Sound to the southwest.

Population

Delaware is not only the second-smallest state in terms of area, but it is also the sixth least populous state in the nation. Delaware is home to 1,018,396 residents (2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimate). The five states with fewer residents than Delaware all have populations below one million: South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Wyoming, the least populous state in the nation, is home to 581,381 (2022 estimate). Delaware’s population is more than 1.75 times larger than Wyoming’s. 

California is the most populous state in the U.S. With 39,029,342 residents (2022 estimate), the Golden State’s population is more than 38 times that of Delaware. 

Population Density

While Delaware is the sixth least populated state, it has the sixth highest population density in the United States. Population density is measured by the number of people per square mile of land area. The combination of Delaware’s small size and a population north of one million gives the state a rather high population density of 508 people per square mile.

Only New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maryland have higher population densities than Delaware. New Jersey’s population density of 1,263 people per square mile leads the nation.

The least densely populated state is Alaska. With the state’s immense size and small population, it features a population density of just 1.3 people per square mile. Wyoming is the least densely populated state in the contiguous U.S., with only 5.9 people per square mile. 

Largest Cities

There are no major cities (population over 100,000) in Delaware. The largest municipality in the state is Wilmington, with 71,569 residents (2022 estimate). 

The state capital of Dover is the second largest city in the state. With 38,594 residents (2022 estimate), Dover is one of the smallest state capitals in the U.S. 

Only one other Delaware city has a population north of 30,000. Newark has 30,453 residents (2022 estimate).  

Counties

There are only three counties in Delaware. The average U.S. state has 62 counties. Delaware’s counties include New Castle County in the north, Kent County in central Delaware, and Sussex County in the south.

At 1,196 square miles (3,098 square kilometers), Sussex County is easily the largest county in the state. It is 1.5 times larger than Kent County and nearly 2.5 times the size of New Castle County.

Though it is the smallest county in terms of area, New Castle County is the most populous Delaware county by a wide margin. Not surprisingly, Wilmington is located in New Castle County. The county is home to 575,494 residents (2022 estimate), more than the other two counties combined. More than 56% of Delaware’s population lives in New Castle County.

And, speaking of counties, it is interesting to note that six other states have a Delaware county. There is a Delaware County in Indiana, Iowa, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

Public Lands

There are no national parks in Delaware. It is home to the First State National Historic Park (shared with Pennsylvania), though.

The state also houses three state forests, one in each of Delaware’s three counties. Blackbird State Forest is in New Castle County. Taber State Forest lies in Kent County. Redden State Forest is found in Sussex County.

Redden State Forest is the state’s largest at more than 12,900 acres. It is a popular site for whitetail deer hunting, along with hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, and bird watching.

Blackbird State Forest spans over 6,000 acres. It is the closest state forest to the population centers of Wilmington and Newark. The forest features 40 miles of hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding trails. 

Taber State Forest covers just over 1,300 acres. It is a very popular hunting destination. 

Delaware’s state forests encompass around 20,200 acres in total, accounting for about one and a quarter percent of the state’s total area.

Elevation

Delaware is the second-smallest state by area and the sixth-smallest by population, but the diminutive superlatives don’t stop there. It also features the lowest mean elevation of any state in the nation.

The mean elevation of Delaware is 60 feet (20 meters) above sea level, the lowest of any U.S. state. The two states with the next lowest mean elevations are Florida and Louisiana. Each of these states has a mean elevation of 100 feet (30 meters) above sea level.

The highest point in Delaware is near Ebright Azimuth at 448 feet. The lowest point in the state is the Atlantic coastline.

The First State

Delaware is known as The First State because it was the first to achieve statehood. Delaware was the first of thirteen original colonies to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The state’s delegates ratified the Constitution on December 7, 1787. The next state, Pennsylvania, would vote to ratify the Constitution five days later.

The state’s official nickname, “The First State,” was adopted on May 23, 2002. The initiative was championed by students at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School.

Delaware is also known as The Diamond State, a nickname given by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson noted that Delaware was “a jewel” among U.S. states due to its strategic location along the Eastern Seaboard.

Oldest Cities and Towns

Delaware is home to some very old cities and towns relative to much of the rest of the United States.

Delaware’s largest city is also its oldest. Wilmington was founded in 1638 by Swedish settlers. It was founded as part of the New Sweden colony. Fort Christina, which sat in the center of the settlement, was about a mile from where downtown Wilmington is located today. A monument donated by Sweden’s government marks the location of that fort.

Some of Delaware’s other oldest municipalities include New Castle (1651), Seaford (1672), Milford (1680), Claymont (1681), and Dover (1683). These communities predate the formation of the United States in 1776 by close to 100 years or more. 

State Animals

Delaware has seven state animals. The first animal to receive state recognition was the blue hen. It was named the state bird of Delaware on April 14, 1939. Along with the other nicknames noted above, Delaware is also known as The Blue Hen State. Delaware is home to more than two million chickens. There are far more chickens than people in the state!

The other official state animals include the ladybug (state bug), weakfish (state fish), tiger swallowtail (state butterfly), gray fox (state wildlife animal), horseshoe crab (state marine animal), and stonefly (state macroinvertebrate).

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/Дмитрий Ларичев