Elsmere, Delaware

Elsmere is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 5,722.

The town was incorporated in the first third of the 20th century to keep the City of Wilmington from annexing the area, which abuts Wilmington on that city's southwest. By the end of the century, mismanagement and embezzlement by Elsmere's mayors, town councilors, and town managers had bankrupted the town, so that it had to cut back on the services supposed to be provided to residents and paid for by Elsmere's property taxes.

Among the more widely publicized of the town's problems were:

• Continuing litigation since the early 1990s with various residents of the town who complained about certain instances of the town's officials' misconduct, including some who petitioned to amend the town's charter to get rid of the corrupt officials and separate litigation against Libertarian K. Kay Shearin, a resident of the town who served as an election judge in its mayoral election in 1993 and claimed that the election Almquist supervised was fraudulent. ()

Geography

Elsmere is located at (39.739112, -75.594267).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.0 square miles (2.5 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,800 people, 2,299 households, and 1,487 families residing in the town. The population density was 5,891.0 people per square mile (2,285.1/km²). There were 2,395 housing units at an average density of 2,432.6/sq mi (943.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 82.41% White, 9.45% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.97% Asian, 5.10% from other races, and 1.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.09% of the population.

There were 2,299 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.3% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $39,415, and the median income for a family was $46,357. Males had a median income of $35,427 versus $28,089 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,643. About 6.7% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

References