Demographics

As of 2004, there were an estimated 830,364 people living in Delaware.

Ethnicity and Ancestry

The racial breakdown of the state is 72.5% White, 19.2% Black, 4.8% Hispanic, 2.1% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 1.7% Mixed race.

The five largest ancestries in Delaware are: African American (19.2%), Irish (16.6%), German (14.3%), English (12.1%), Italian (9.3%).

The Philadelphia suburbs of northern Delaware, such as Wilmington, are heavily Irish, while southern Delawareans are largely of British ancestry. Delaware has the largest black population percentage-wise north of Maryland, and had the largest population of free blacks (17%) prior to the U.S. Civil War.

Languages

As of 2000, 90.5% of Delaware residents age 5 and older spoke English at home and 4.7% spoke Spanish. French is the third-most-spoken language at 0.7%, followed by Chinese at 0.5% and German at 0.5%.

Religions

Religious affiliations in Delware are 79% Christian (mostly Protestants, with some Catholics thrown in for good measure), 19% non-religious, and 2% other religions.