Introduction
With the launch of the Delaware State Chamber Foundation, we are taking facts found in this book and digging deeper into the issues that matter most to our members and all Delawareans. Our foundation, a 501(c) (3) organization, will conduct nonpartisan research and elevate the data points discovered within these pages by turning them into actionable policy initiatives.
As part of this effort, we are planning to develop an interactive competitiveness dashboard on our website that will incorporate this data and additional indicators over time. This tool will allow policymakers, businesses, and the public to easily explore trends and better understand the forces shaping Delaware’s future.
You can scan the QR code on this page to learn more about the Foundation and access the dashboard when it launches. It is our hope that policymakers at every level of government will view this work as an opportunity to reshape our state in ways that set us apart from other states and lead to a brighter future.
Our changing demographics necessitate that we take on these challenges and right-size services and programs that have been delivered the same way for decades. With their exit into retirement, the largest generation in the history of the world, the Baby Boomers, are followed by successively smaller generations. That means personal income tax revenues the state collects to fund public services will decline as fewer and fewer people are part of the workforce. If we want to avoid structural deficits for years to come, we need to promptly reconsider the programs of old and reconfigure our spending priorities. The tax base is shrinking, period.
Another example of “right-sizing” our spending would be the consolidation of public school buildings. 20% of our public school buildings are operating at less than 65% of their capacity, and several schools are not even half full. The collective cost to operate and maintain more than 200 buildings is over a quarter of a billion dollars per year. We need to reduce our inventory where it makes sense, refurbish buildings that need repairs, and build new facilities in geographies with populations that are growing.
This book is about uplifting all the good we do and highlighting the challenges before us. The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce stands ready to be a thoughtful partner in this journey. Onward.
Michael J. Quaranta President, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce
Cover photographs courtesy of: Dover Motor Speedway; MDavis & Sons; and Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, New Castle Court House Museum
State Populations
Age Group by Percentage of Population (2024)
Net
Non-Agricultural Employment Growth
Non-Agricultural
Employment Growth (10
year) (Aug. 2015 – Aug. 2025) Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Per Capita Personal Income by State (2024)
Gross Domestic Product by State in Current Dollars (2024)
Exports
Opening and Closing Rates of Establishments
(Q1 2024 – Q4 2024)
Taxes Paid by Business (FY 2023)
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy/Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence
Effective Property Tax Rate on a Primary Residence in the State’s Largest City (Payable 2024)
State and Local Government Employment
Annual Average Investment Per Employee in
Union Members as a Share of Employment
Source: Barry T. Hirsch, David A. Macpherson, and William E. Even
Regular Unemployment Insurance Payments
(2nd Quarter 2025)
Tort Costs (2022)
Venture Capital Investment (2024)
Overall R&D Spending (2022)
R&D Per Capita by Performing Sector (2023)
Science, Engineering, and Health Doctorates
Educational Attainment of Population 25
and Older (2024)
Higher Education Total Fall Enrollment as
Fall Enrollment as Percentage of Population:
Fall Enrollment as Percentage of Population: Private
(Fall 2021)
Import/Export
Ratio of College-Bound High School Graduates (Fall 2022)
National Assessment of Educational Progress (2024)
Estimated Public School Spending Per Pupil
Partisan Composition of State Governments
Average Retail Price Per KwH for Commercial Customers (2023 – 2024)
Average Retail Price Per KwH for Residential Customers (2023 – 2024)
Generation of Energy Resources (2024)
Generation of Energy Resources, cont. (2024)
Metropolitan Commuting, cont. (2024)
Percentage of Workers Who Worked From
Home (2024)
1 Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area
2 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area 4 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area
5 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area 6 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area
7 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area
8 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area 9 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area 13 Jacksonville, FL Metro Area
Columbus, OH Metro Area
15 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area
16 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area
17 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area
18 Salt Lake City-Murray, UT Metro Area
19 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area
20 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area 21 Richmond, VA Metro Area
22 Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area 23 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area 24 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area
25 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area
26 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area 27 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area 28 Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area
29 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area
30 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro Area
31 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area
32 Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area
33 Cleveland, OH Metro Area
34 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area
35 St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area
36 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area
37 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area
38 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area
39 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area
40 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area
41 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area
42 Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV Metro Area
43 Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area
44 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area
45 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area
46 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area
47 Birmingham, AL Metro Area
48 Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area
49 Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area
50 Fresno, CA Metro Area
Remote work in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan area has continued to fall, ranking 24th in 2024 at 13 4%, compared with 16 9% in 2023 (19th) and 23 6% in 2021 (13rd) Pre-pandemic remote work in 2019 was 5 9% (23rd)
Percentage of Workers Who Worked From Home, cont. (2024)
Airport On-Time Performance
State Expenditures on Roadways (2022)
U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis
Health Care Expenditures Per Capita (2024)
Percentage Without Health Insurance by
State by Age (2024)
Percent of Privately Insured Persons with Employment-Based Insurance (2024)
Occupational Injury and Illness Incidence (2023)
Housing Price Appreciation (2nd
Home Ownership Rates
(2nd Quarter 2020 – 2nd Quarter 2025)
Metropolitan
School Capacities
2024-2025 School Year
School Capacities, cont.
2024-2025 School Year
2024-2025 School Year
Source: Delaware Department of Education, FY24 State Capacity Report
School Capacities, cont.
2024-2025 School Year
School Capacities, cont.
Source: EL Calculations based on Lightcast 2025.4
100 = 2007 Employment Levels
Source: EL Calculations based on Lightcast 2025.4
100 = 2001 Population Levels
Source: EL Calculations based on Lightcast 2025.4
Percentage of Population with a Bachelors Degree or Higher
