Kent County, DE jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Kent County’s unemployment rate is 5.0%. No layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 46 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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Kent County economy

5.0%
unemployment, Sep 2026
5.6% the month before
82,965
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
185,043
people in Kent County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$72,872
median household income
Source: Census ACS
36%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Kent County outlook: Building

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

Population up 6.8% from 2020 to 2025
Unemployment 5.0%, down 0.6 points from a year ago
Sectors adding the most jobs: professional & technical (+672 jobs), finance & insurance (+520 jobs)
Sectors losing the most jobs: retail (−817 jobs), admin & staffing (−598 jobs)

Local job-market news

Recent headlines about layoffs, AI and jobs in Kent County. Each link goes to the publisher.

University of Delaware launches statewide survey on AI in the workplaceDelaware Business Times · Oct 13, 2026

Learn and get funded in Kent County

Which AI skills each kind of job asks for, with the pay premium.
Your local workforce board and American Job Centers: training vouchers and re-employment help.
Grants and funding for job seekers, ranked for your state and situation.
Unemployment benefits by state, if you are between jobs.

Kent County layoffs

No layoff notices naming Kent County in the last 12 months are on file. The WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more workers, so smaller layoffs are not in it.

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Kent County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys3 open roles
Hovnanian Enterprises3 open roles
Albertsons Companies2 open roles
Alldus2 open roles
Sedgwick2 open roles
Abacus Technology1 open role
BAYADA Home Health Care1 open role
Bayhealth1 open role
Brookdale Senior Living1 open role
CAI1 open role

Colleges in Kent County

Colleges in Kent County
College	City	Type	Students
Delaware State University	Dover	Public 4-year	5,000–9,999

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Kent County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Delaware? How to file for unemployment in Delaware (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

Delaware Workforce Development Board
Serves all of Delaware

Dover American Job Center
Dover · Comprehensive · 302-739-5473
Monday - Friday, 8:00a.m.-4:30p.m.

Cities in Kent County

Other Delaware counties

All of Delaware

Laid off or looking for work in Kent County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from Delaware’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Delaware unemployment benefits and severance rules.

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