Moving to Delaware from Ohio
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Ohio to Delaware — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Ohio to Delaware, you would find that Delaware is 16.7% more expensive than Ohio. A $75,000 salary in Ohio would need to be roughly $87,600 in Delaware to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Dover averages 66°F vs 76°F in Columbus, making it significantly cooler. Columbus and Wilmington are about 400 mi apart.
Is Delaware cheaper than Ohio?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 5.0% less
Groceries
pay 8.5% more
Transportation
pay 16.1% less
Housing
pay 45.6% more
Childcare
pay 44.8% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 20.8% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Delaware?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $87,600
To maintain the same standard of living in Delaware
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Delaware cost about 1% more than cities in Ohio.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Ohio and Delaware stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Ohio performs better than Delaware across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Delaware performs significantly better than Ohio across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Ohio generally does better on what about housing?, though Delaware leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Ohio generally does better on infrastructure, though Delaware leads in internet access.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Delaware generally does better on employment & economy, though Ohio leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Delaware performs significantly better than Ohio across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Delaware vs Ohio
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Columbus | Dover |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 63°/41°F (17°/5°C) | 48°/31°F (9°/-1°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 84°/62°F (29°/16°C) | 75°/54°F (24°/12°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 90°/71°F (32°/21°C) | 84°/65°F (29°/18°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 68°/47°F (20°/8°C) | 58°/40°F (15°/4°C) |
View all months
| Month | Columbus | Dover |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58°/37°F (14.2°/2.7°C) | 43°/27°F (6.3°/-2.7°C) |
| Feb | 62°/40°F (16.7°/4.5°C) | 47°/29°F (8.3°/-1.7°C) |
| Mar | 69°/46°F (20.8°/7.8°C) | 55°/36°F (12.7°/2.0°C) |
| Apr | 77°/53°F (24.8°/11.4°C) | 66°/44°F (18.7°/6.8°C) |
| May | 84°/62°F (28.9°/16.6°C) | 75°/54°F (23.7°/12.1°C) |
| Jun | 90°/70°F (32.2°/20.9°C) | 83°/63°F (28.4°/17.4°C) |
| Jul | 92°/73°F (33.4°/22.7°C) | 87°/68°F (30.6°/20.2°C) |
| Aug | 91°/72°F (33.0°/22.4°C) | 85°/67°F (29.6°/19.4°C) |
| Sep | 86°/67°F (30.2°/19.3°C) | 79°/60°F (26.3°/15.6°C) |
| Oct | 77°/56°F (25.2°/13.1°C) | 69°/49°F (20.4°/9.3°C) |
| Nov | 68°/46°F (20.2°/7.8°C) | 58°/40°F (14.7°/4.3°C) |
| Dec | 59°/39°F (15.2°/3.8°C) | 47°/31°F (8.6°/-0.6°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Delaware than Ohio?
Day-to-day costs in Delaware run about 17% higher than Ohio on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to Delaware?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $21,900 in Delaware for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Delaware safe?
Ohio performs better than Delaware across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Delaware compared to Ohio?
Delaware performs significantly better than Ohio across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Delaware compared to Ohio?
The average high temperature in Dover is 66°F, compared to 76°F in Columbus. Dover receives around 46.1 in of rainfall per year, while Columbus gets 46.8 in.
