How Delaware Compares, an inventory of the state’s standing on key quality-of-life and economic indicators, has been undertaken as a partnership between the University of Delaware, the Delaware Public Policy Institute, and the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce. Improving on a model initiated some years ago, the current project, managed by the University’s Institute for Public Administration and the Center for Applied Business and Economic Research, not only provides timely Delaware-focused data, but also includes analysis, insight, and context from faculty experts in their respective fields.
How Delaware Compares is a valuable source for government, business, and community leaders as well as Delaware citizens. It provides a reliable and concise basis for benchmarking the performance of the First State in key policy and service areas against the performance of other states and the nation. How Delaware Compares also provides a framework for identifying areas in need attention and improvement.
The latest edition features a revised format that allows users to quickly find accurate and up-to-date information regarding Delaware’s status among the states in an array of subject areas. Using the Multistate Charts© tool readers can view Delaware’s rank on any particular indicator and compare it with those of any group of up to 19 other states as well as to the top or the bottom states, or to the states most similar to Delaware.
Much of the data and analysis provided from this project affirm Delaware’s many assets. How Delaware Compares also affirms the reasons why Delaware is a highly attractive location for doing business, and why the First State may become even more attractive as a business location in the decades ahead. In addition, the information and analysis identify areas where Delaware faces serious challenges and where Delaware’s standing among the states does not yet meet the benchmarks to which most of its citizens surely aspire. By helping to illuminate where Delaware stands, it is our hope that How Delaware Compares will enable public, private, and community leaders and First State citizens to better recognize the challenges and opportunities facing our state.
This project is a collaboration between the University of Delaware and the Delaware Public Policy Institute of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and is managed by UD's Institute for Public Administration. Sponsored in part by AstraZeneca.
