271,134 people (2024 Census estimate, +13.6% since 2020)
936 square miles of land · 290 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
111 active community water systems list Sussex County in the area they serve, reporting 348,594 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| REHOBOTH PUMP DISTRICT (TUI) groundwater · private · DE0000991 | 81,417 served |
| BETHANY BAY PUMP DISTRICT groundwater · private · DE0000221 | 52,684 served |
| DEWEY BEACH WATER DEPARTMENT buys groundwater · local government · DE0000825 | 31,000 served |
| REHOBOTH BEACH WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · DE0000723 | 25,000 served |
| ARTESIAN SOUTHERN SUSSEX REGIONAL groundwater · private · DE00A0323 | 20,145 served |
| SUSSEX SHORES WATER COMPANY groundwater · private · DE0000557 | 12,450 served |
| BETHANY BEACH WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · DE0000556 | 12,000 served |
| LONG NECK WATER COMPANY groundwater · private · DE0000625 | 11,000 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
No county jail figure in the national data for Sussex County — not gathered, never hidden. Some counties share a regional jail or have none.
8 school districts have their office in Sussex County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $258.8 million — $209.1 million to run schools, about $19,367 per student, plus $44.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $72.2 million local (mostly property tax), $123.9 million state, $21.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $117.4 million.
Spent $161 million — $131.2 million to run schools, about $20,712 per student, plus $26.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $62.7 million local (mostly property tax), $80.4 million state, $10.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $130.4 million.
Spent $76.5 million — $68.5 million to run schools, about $15,324 per student, plus $6.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.4 million local (mostly property tax), $51.7 million state, $13.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.9 million.
Spent $66.1 million — $62.8 million to run schools, about $18,422 per student, plus $2.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.1 million local (mostly property tax), $43 million state, $13.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $12.6 million.
Spent $42.3 million — $40.4 million to run schools, about $15,553 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.5 million local (mostly property tax), $29.8 million state, $7.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.1 million.
Spent $53.4 million — $48.7 million to run schools, about $19,527 per student, plus $4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.4 million local (mostly property tax), $31.9 million state, $12.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.6 million.
Spent $18.8 million — $17.2 million to run schools, about $12,046 per student, plus $810,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3 million local (mostly property tax), $13.6 million state, $2.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.2 million.
Spent $34.8 million — $27 million to run schools, about $20,906 per student, plus $3.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.1 million local (mostly property tax), $17.1 million state, $3.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $10.1 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Sussex County about $119.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
154 bridges in Sussex County: 61 in good condition, 90 fair, and 3 poor (1.9%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| SR 54 over ASSAWOMAN BAY · built 1957 | 11,464 vehicles a day |
| CRAIGS MILL RD over CRAIGS POND SPILLWAY · built 1973 | 196 vehicles a day |
| CODS ROAD over SLAUGHTER CREEK · built 1931 | 78 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $107.4 million of work in Sussex County in fiscal 2025, about $453 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Delaware are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Sussex County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Sussex County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Delaware: the state government and every county in Delaware.
Nearby counties: Wicomico County, MD (26 mi) · Caroline County, MD (30 mi) · Kent County (31 mi) · Worcester County, MD (31 mi) · Cape May County, NJ (39 mi) · Dorchester County, MD (42 mi).