List of counties in Delaware

The state of Delaware has three counties: New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, the fewest counties of any U.S. state. The origin of the county boundaries goes back to former court districts. The powers of the counties' legislative bodies are limited to issues such as zoning and development.

Delaware counties

Politics and government

Each county elects a legislative body (known in New Castle and Sussex counties as the County Council, and in Kent County as the Levy Court). The counties are able to raise taxes and borrow money. They also have control over garbage disposal, water supply, sewerage, zoning, development, and building codes.

Most functions which are handled on a county-by-county basis in other states—such as court and law enforcement—have been centralized in Delaware, leading to a significant amount of power in the Delaware state government.

County	FIPS code	County seat	Established	History	Meaning of name	Population (2020)	Area	Map
Kent County	001	Dover	1680	Created from Whorekill (Hoarkill) District. Formerly known as St. Jones County.	named in 1682 by William Penn for the English county of Kent	181,851	800 sq mi (2,072 km2)
New Castle County	003	Wilmington	1664	Original County (Formally New Amstel)	named in 1673 by Dutch Governor Anthony Colve for the town of New Castle, Delaware as an Anglicization of Nieuw Amstel.	570,719	494 sq mi (1,279 km2)
Sussex County	005	Georgetown	1664	Created from Whorekill (Hoarkill) District. Formerly known as Deale County	named in 1682 by William Penn for the English county of Sussex, which was his home county	237,378	1,196 sq mi (3,098 km2)