Which Delaware counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 3 Delaware counties we have scored, Kent County scores highest at 95 and Sussex County lowest at 89. Delaware ranks 8th of 50 overall, at 91 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Hazard separates its counties most: 11 to 14 out of 15.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 3 counties · 210 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsDelaware ranks 8th of 50, 91 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #3 and #18. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below. Caveat for Delaware: This state's rank could fall anywhere from #3 to #18 on a fresh draw of counties, so read its place loosely.

Every scored county in Delaware, best score first


Kent → 324 people / sq mi	95	25	19	14	14	14	9
New Castle → 1357 people / sq mi	95	25	19	14	14	14	9
Sussex → 282 people / sq mi	89	25	19	14	11	13	7

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

91% of Delaware's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Kent, New Castle and Sussex. The weakest are Sussex, Kent and New Castle. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price).

What separates them

Hazard: Kent County scores 14 of 15, Sussex County 11. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.

Buildability, Food, Water, Legal and Solar barely move across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Buildability is Delaware's weakest dimension, at 8 of 10 for the state as a whole. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $30k to $67k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Delaware row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Delaware

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Delaware? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsDelaware: 91 of 100, 8th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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