Page 2 of Best Independent Living in Delaware

Why trust this guide? Our editorial team analyzed 39 independent living communities in DE using DE Dept. of Health & Social Services (DHSS) data, inspection records, complaints, amenities, and facility-level details. How we rank independent living in DE
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Last updated
We analyzed These are the facilities in Delaware our team has analyzed — not a count of every independent living provider in Delaware.
39 homes
Other senior care options in Delaware:

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Avg Walk Score: 43/ 100The average Walk Score across facilities in Delaware. A third-party neighborhood walkability score (0–100) measuring convenience and context, not healthcare quality. Individual facilities can vary widely from this average.
National Average: 50/ 100
Avg No. of Beds: 101The average licensed bed capacity across facilities in Delaware. Individual facilities can vary widely from this average.
National Average: 90

Compare Independent Living around Delaware

Info below is compiled from the DE Dept. of Health & Social Services (DHSS), senior community websites & trusted data sources such as Walk Score & BBB.

Communities are listed from highest to lowest based on our ranking methodology.

Care Types in This Table AL (Assisted Living): Housing with help for daily activities like bathing, dressing, and medication, without 24-hour skilled nursing. NH (Nursing Home): 24/7 skilled nursing care for residents with complex, ongoing medical needs. SNF (Skilled Nursing Facility): Round-the-clock nursing care, often for recovery after surgery, injury, or illness. MC (Memory Care): Secured, specialized care for people living with Alzheimer's or dementia. RC (Respite Care): Short-term temporary care that gives family caregivers a break. IL (Independent Living): Community living with dining, activities, and transportation for active seniors who need little personal care. HC (Home Care): Professional care delivered in the person's own home, from companionship to skilled nursing. HOS (Hospice Care): Comfort-focused care for those with a terminal illness, prioritizing quality of life over treatment. PC (Palliative Care): Comfort-focused care for serious illness at any stage, including alongside curative treatment.
City and state of the facility. Used for mapping and state-average comparisons.
Licensed bed capacity (maximum allowed). Not the same as how many beds are currently filled.
Indicates whether residents are allowed to have pets in the facility.
Third-party neighborhood walkability score (0–100). Convenience/context metric, not a healthcare quality measure.
Description of bed or unit types offered (e.g. assisted living, memory care), as reported in state or facility disclosures.
A named contact for the facility. Hover the name to see their role — Administrator (state administrator of record or facility-provided administrator), Nursing Director, Medical Director, or Staff. The most authoritative available is shown.
Name of the director of nursing on record, when the state publishes this field.
Millcroft Living
IL
AL
NH
SNF
Newark
28
Facility 28
DE AVG 101
Rank #69 / 71
Yes
35
Facility 35
DE AVG 43
Rank #58 / 99
Studio / AlcoveEd Burleigh - Interim AdminChristina Hushen - Interim
Meadowcrest at Middletown
IL
AL
MC
RC
Middletown
90
Facility 90
DE AVG 101
Rank #44 / 71
No
10
Facility 10
DE AVG 43
Rank #89 / 99
1 Bed / 2 BedNathan MillmanChristie Hynson
Forwood Estates
IL
AL
Wilmington
40
Facility 40
DE AVG 101
Rank #66 / 71
Yes
35
Facility 35
DE AVG 43
Rank #58 / 99
Studio / 1 Bed / 2 BedRawalda Alexis Goring - EdPauline Mwangi
The Moorings at Lewes Assisted Living
IL
AL
MC
NH
SNF
Lewes (Lewes Historic District)
45
Facility 45
DE AVG 101
Rank #64 / 71
No
65
Facility 65
DE AVG 43
Rank #21 / 99
-Annette V MooreLori Dibiase Warrington
Willowbrooke Court at Country House
IL
AL
HOS
MC
NH
PC
SNF
Wilmington
48
Facility 48
DE AVG 101
Rank #63 / 71
No
4
Facility 4
DE AVG 43
Rank #97 / 99
1 Bed / 2 BedJennifer GreenwaltShannon Donovan Pizzollo
Harmony at Kent
IL
AL
MC
Dover
115
Facility 115
DE AVG 101
Rank #29 / 71
Yes
33
Facility 33
DE AVG 43
Rank #63 / 99
-Rebecca Thomas - EdLatoya Deal
Paramount Senior Living at Newark
IL
AL
HC
HOS
MC
RC
SNF
Newark
132
Facility 132
DE AVG 101
Rank #18 / 71
Yes
16
Facility 16
DE AVG 43
Rank #85 / 99
-Josephine BowserMaria Phillips
Shipley Living
IL
AL
NH
RC
SNF
Wilmington
17
Facility 17
DE AVG 101
Rank #70 / 71
Yes
13
Facility 13
DE AVG 43
Rank #87 / 99
Studio / 1 Bed / 2 BedChanel Dale LateefMichael Asika
Forwood Manor Assisted Living
IL
AL
Wilmington
40
Facility 40
DE AVG 101
Rank #66 / 71
No
35
Facility 35
DE AVG 43
Rank #58 / 99
-Rawalda Alexis Goring - EdPauline Mwangi
Westminster Village In Dover
IL
AL
MC
NH
RC
SNF
Dover
-Yes
31
Facility 31
DE AVG 43
Rank #66 / 99
1 Bed / 2 BedWendy Nerad-

Rank badges are statewide: each community is ranked against every DE community we track that reports that metric, not just the 39 on this page.

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Millcroft Living

255 Possum Park Rd, Newark, DE 19711
Overview of Millcroft Living

Millcroft Living occupies 255 Possum Park Rd in Newark, Delaware, a somewhat walkable spot with a Walk Score of 35. It is a small community, with 28 beds across nursing home, assisted living, and independent living, and it has been open for about a year. New facilities have newer infrastructure; they also have shorter track records, which is a relevant fact when choosing a care setting.

Occupancy sits at 72%, meaning 20 of the 28 beds are filled. The average stay runs 97 days, a little over three months. Both figures together suggest this is predominantly a short-stay, post-acute facility rather than a place where most residents put down long-term roots.

Staffing holds up on paper. Total nursing care comes to 5 hours and 6 minutes per resident per day, with registered nurses accounting for about 52 minutes of that. Those are the numbers as reported.

Payment covers Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay, which lines up well with a facility oriented toward shorter rehab stays where Medicare is the typical primary payer.

At 28 beds with three levels of care and a short-stay profile, Millcroft Living is best suited for adults stepping down from a hospital stay who need structured nursing support in a small setting, and potentially longer-term placement depending on how their needs evolve.

Contact Millcroft Living

Meadowcrest at Middletown

820 Middletown Odessa Rd Pob 1335, Middletown, DE 19709
Overview of Meadowcrest at Middletown

Meadowcrest at Middletown is a trusted home for seniors where upscale design and modern accents blend harmoniously with natural-looking interiors, creating a refreshing and visually appealing environment. The common areas are simply amazing, and the spacious suites exude a sense of luxury, setting the stage for high-standard living. Whether you’re looking for assisted living homes, memory care units, or independent living floor plans, Meadowcrest has thoughtfully crafted spaces to cater to all preferences and needs.

Engaging events and activities abound in the community, fostering social interactions, encouraging learning, and nurturing hobbies, making each day fulfilling and enjoyable. With complimentary transportation services, individually controlled apartment temperatures, and top-notch housekeeping, residents can enjoy a carefree lifestyle. Meadowcrest at Middletown promises a delightful living experience for all its cherished residents.

Contact Meadowcrest at Middletown

Overview of Forwood Estates

Forwood Manor is a charming senior living home that offers a friendly atmosphere where residents can feel comfortable making new friendships. They offer assisted living, independent living, and respite care services. As the name suggests, the senior living home offers a high-quality senior-living experience that is established through their excellent service that many families from all over the country acclaim. A proud member of the Five Star Residences, Forwood Manor offers a stress-free senior living lifestyle for you. 

Life at Forwood Manor offers modern amenities and friendly staff, they offer senior care service like no other. From delicious meals served any time of the day, to fun activities open for everyone, they always strive to provide everything you will need. Residential life is all about amenities: housekeeping, physical therapy, social events, 24-hour concierge, hair salon, library, and restaurant-style dining.

Contact Forwood Estates

Overview of The Moorings at Lewes Assisted Living

The Moorings at Lewes is a 45-bed nursing wing that sits inside a larger coastal retirement community run by Springpoint Senior Living Inc. It is designed so people can transition between independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing without moving off the property. The building stays reasonably busy with an 83.5% occupancy rate, and it handles payment through Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay. Since about two-thirds of the people moving in arrive on Medicare for short-term rehab, the typical stay averages around 86 days.

State health department logs show a lot of daily clinical resources and an unpenalized regulatory track record. On average, residents get 4 hours and 10 minutes of direct nursing care each day, with registered nurses covering 1 hour and 38 minutes of that total. The home also keeps a broad medical team on site, including a nurse practitioner, a clinical nurse specialist, a dietitian, and physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapists.

Looking at the paperwork side, Delaware state inspectors have logged zero financial fines or penalties over the last three years. While standard inspections have turned up minor issues over the years regarding food service, pharmacy storage, and general care charting, all of them were quickly resolved, and the facility has zero serious or critical violations on its record.

Families looking at local multi-level care options or a place for post-hospital recovery can use these state reports to see how the facility runs. The public records describe a smaller, well-staffed nursing environment with great daily nurse coverage and a clean regulatory record, outside of standard administrative fixes.

Contact The Moorings at Lewes Assisted Living

Overview of Willowbrooke Court at Country House

Willowbrooke Court at Country House is an SNF in Wilmington on Kennett Pike, in a car-dependent area. The home is a newer operation, having been serving for one year, and currently maintains a 48-bed capacity with 31 residents, indicating a 65 percent occupancy rate. The average stay duration is 42 days, signaling a blend of short-term rehabilitation and longer-term residents. Medicare and private pay are accepted to offer families two key routes to cover care. To suit varying preferences and needs, the home offers housing choices of one or two-bed accommodations.

Daily nursing support averages around 4 hours 45 minutes per resident, split among registered nurses, nurse aides, and licensed practical nurses. This level of attentive staffing is a foundation of daily care delivery at Willowbrooke Court at Country House.

State inspections have noted themes for improvement in nursing staff skills, medication management, fall prevention, and service quality.

Families assessing the home may find it beneficial to ask how it’s addressing operational matters and what safeguards are enforced for resident safety.

Contact Willowbrooke Court at Country House

Overview of Harmony at Kent

Harmony at Kent is a senior living and nursing home community in Dover, Delaware, with spacious apartments and a full menu of services and amenities for those looking to broaden their horizons. Their welcoming community provides residents with unrivaled access to everything this beautiful city has to offer, from a short drive to the Delaware State Museums to a dip in Delaware Bay. Their community has resort-style amenities, including an onsite beauty salon and barbershop, a 24-hour fitness center, restaurant-style dining, a pub and bistro, and a friendly team available around the clock to answer your call. 
They offer beautiful one-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 680 to 880 square feet and two bedroom apartments ranging in size from 970 to 1,440 square feet. The bright apartments are filled with light and have full-size kitchens with stainless-steel appliances and chic granite countertops. Comfort reigns supreme in Harmony at Kent’s Assisted Living neighborhood, which features charming studio suites starting at 390 square feet, one bedroom apartments starting at 510 square feet, and two-bedroom apartments up to 950 square feet. Residents of the Memory Care neighborhood enjoy a private, home-like environment with warm finishes and large, easy-to-navigate bathrooms. 

Contact Harmony at Kent

Overview of Paramount Senior Living at Newark

At Paramount Senior Living at Newark, they take senior living to the next level with their premier community in Newark. The community’s commitment to providing a high quality of life for residents and their families is evident in the state-of-the-art facility, offering independent living, assisted living, dementia care, home health care, and hospice care.

At Paramount Senior Living at Newark, seniors can enjoy a maintenance-free environment with daily housekeeping, fresh linens, medication management, and an emergency call response service for added safety. But it’s not just about the practicalities – Paramount also believes in nurturing an active lifestyle and nutritious dining options with three scratch-made daily meals. With Paramount, seniors can truly live life to the fullest. In addition to their top-notch amenities, they offer physical, occupational, and speech therapy and physician and social service visits.

Contact Paramount Senior Living at Newark

Shipley Living

2723 Shipley Rd, Wilmington, DE 19810
Overview of Shipley Living

Shipley Living is a senior living community that houses services for independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing living options. Awarded as the ‘#1 Best in Customer Satisfaction’ for 4 years in a  row, management practices a results-driven approach to quality senior living. The resident-centered community understands the importance of meaningful relationships and the importance of family, which is why it highly practices a resident-centered approach to holistic wellness for seniors. Shipley Living is where residents thrive and live their best lives possible.

Residents of all housing are provided essential amenities and services that help with day-to-day activities such as concierge services, fitness classes, housekeeping, maintenance, a library, a swimming pool, and a hair salon available in the community.  These are all offered with the thought that residents would want to have a relaxed and stress-free lifestyle.

Contact Shipley Living

Overview of Forwood Manor Assisted Living

Forwood Manor is a charming senior living home that offers a friendly atmosphere where residents can feel comfortable making new friendships. They offer assisted living, independent living, and respite care services. As the name suggests, the senior living home offers a high-quality senior-living experience that is established through their excellent service that many families from all over the country acclaim. A proud member of the Five Star Residences, Forwood Manor offers a stress-free senior living lifestyle for you.

Life at Forwood Manor offers modern amenities and friendly staff, they offer senior care service like no other. From delicious meals served any time of the day, to fun activities open for everyone, they always strive to provide everything you will need. Residential life is all about amenities: housekeeping, physical therapy, social events, 24-hour concierge, hair salon, library, and restaurant-style dining.  

Contact Forwood Manor Assisted Living

Overview of Westminster Village in Dover

Westminster Village in Dover is a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Dover, Delaware, set on 27 acres about 2.7 miles from the city center. It offers a full continuum of care on one campus, spanning independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, respite care, and rehabilitation. That range is its defining feature: a resident can move between levels of support as needs change without leaving the community or the people around them. The community serves adults aged 55 and older and is managed by Executive Director Wendy Nerad.

Daily life is organized around the Thrive Wellness program, a resident-driven approach built on six dimensions of wellness. In practice that shows up as fitness classes, wellness programming, dining options, and time spent in the community’s gardens. Transportation services and on-site fitness and recreation round out the offering, and pets are welcome.

Housing is arranged in single-story buildings, with one-bedroom and two-bedroom options ranging from 550 to 1,130 square feet. The floor-plan range gives couples and singles room to choose a layout that fits how they actually live.

The campus sits in a residential part of Dover that scores 31 out of 100 for walkability, so a few errands may be reachable on foot while most trips will involve a short drive or the community’s transportation. For families weighing a continuum-of-care setting, an in-person visit is a good way to see how the wellness programming and shared spaces feel day to day.

Contact Westminster Village In Dover

Weighting overview

  • 35%
    Resident Experience
  • 25%
    Regulatory
  • 15%
    Visual Media
  • 10%
    Website
  • 10%
    Stability
  • 5%
    Environment
01

Resident & Family Experience 35%

The single largest share of every ranking. Aggregated review sentiment and volume from major platforms — the closest signal to real resident experience.

  • Includes
  • Review Sentiment
  • Review Volume
02

Regulatory & Safety Record 25%

State inspection records, citations, and complaint visits. We weight per-inspection rates more heavily than raw counts.

  • Includes
  • State Inspections
  • Citations/Inspection
  • % Inspections w/ Citations
  • Complaint Visits
  • Accreditations
  • BBB Rating
03

Visual Media & Transparency 15%

Communities that publish high-quality visuals give families a real preview. No photos or tours = a negative transparency signal.

  • Includes
  • Video Tours
  • Virtual Walkthroughs
  • Photo Quantity
  • Photo Quality
04

Website & Operator Transparency 10%

Site quality and whether the operator publishes basic accountability information — staff names, contact details, ownership.

  • Includes
  • Website Content
  • Mobile Usability
  • Staff Info Available
  • Owner Info Available
05

Community Stability 10%

Operational signals indicating whether a community is well-run and meeting demand.

  • Includes
  • Occupancy Rate
  • Bed Options
06

Environment & Pricing 5%

Walkability and pricing transparency. Walk Score is weighted higher for Independent Living than for Memory Care, where most residents do not leave unaccompanied.

  • Includes
  • Walk Score
  • Pricing Transparency
No paid rankings Communities cannot pay to influence placement.
How we're paid: If we help you find a community and you move in, that community may pay us a referral fee. This never affects where they rank or what you pay. Learn more
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Frequently Asked Questions about Independent Living in Delaware

What is independent living?

Independent living communities are residential settings for active older adults — typically with private apartments or cottages, shared amenities (dining, fitness, activities), and no built-in medical care.

How many independent living communities are listed on this page?

This page features 39 independent living communities in Delaware. Use the filters and comparison tools above to compare ratings, amenities, and pricing.

How do I choose the right independent living community in Delaware?

Start by matching the level of care offered to the resident's current and anticipated needs, then compare licensing status, staff-to-resident ratios, recent inspection results, and pricing. Tour at least two or three communities in Delaware, talk to current residents and families, and confirm what is included in the base rate versus billed as add-on services.

What should I look for when visiting independent living communities in Delaware?

Pay attention to staff interactions with residents, cleanliness and odor, food quality at meal times, the activity calendar, and how questions about pricing and care plans are answered. Ask to see the most recent state inspection report, the move-out / level-of-care-change policy, and a sample monthly bill that lists every fee.