Town of Laurel rated the poorest in the first state

LAUREL, Del. – The town of Laurel is responding after U.S. Census Bureau data ranked it as the poorest town in Delaware.

However, that’s not stopping town officials’ hope to bring wealth back into the community. They are hopeful and they tell me they do have a plan in place.

“It’s very concerning to look at the amount of poverty that Laurel has,” says Representative Tim Dukes, of Delaware. Representative Tim Dukes, talking about the town of Laurel, home to 4,042 people according to the 2020 census.

But it’s Spirit that keeps the community going. “We have a very large area of historical homes, at one point had over 800 homes on the historical registry so it is an older town with a lot of older homes,” says Laurel Town Manager, Jaimie Smith. “There’s a lot of heart and a lot of spirit in the community and the football team just won the state championship, so that in itself brings a lot of hope in the kids,” says the Representative.

The town of Laurel was incorporated in 1885 and local leaders say it has seen slow growth over the last 10 years, but with some changes, Laurel will not hold the title of poorest town in Delaware. “We’ve got to make sure that we are providing good quality jobs, and that happens when you have good infrastructure,” says Rep. Dukes.

However, some of those infrastructure improvements are already making their way to the area. “The development of the broad creek, in downtown Laurel. The development out on the highway, Laurel has been behind the rest of the towns, through the route 13 corridor, but now there’s water and sewer on the highway ready for development,” he adds.

The town has also been working to bring in new businesses, but before they move in there needs to be housing. Laurel Town manager, Jamie Smith says businesses have been asking for it. “In order to come to the town they need to see more rooftops, they need to see more growth so they know that the growth within the area can sustain their business,” she says.

The Laurel town manager says they are experiencing a large vacancy rate, that’s due to residents passing away and families not wanting their loved ones’ homes. In order for commercial growth to happen and have these jobs, they are going to need to bring in more residents.

Laurel officials say a batch of new home construction is currently under preliminary approval.