Delaware
Delaware offers a Disabled Veterans School Tax Credit that effectively eliminates the school portion of property tax for 100 percent disabled veterans, free hunting and fishing licenses for veterans rated 60 percent or higher, in state tuition at the University of Delaware and Delaware State for resident veterans, and a 50 percent discount on the annual state parks pass (free only for qualifying recent OIF/OEF veterans).
Delaware Department of Veterans AffairsProperty tax exemption
Full credit against the school district portion of property taxes on the primary residence. Does not exempt the county portion. Transfers to the unremarried surviving spouse.
State income tax
Delaware does not tax VA disability compensation. Military retirement pay is partially exempt - Delaware excludes up to $12,500 of military pension income; amounts above that are taxed.
Disabled veteran plates & registration
Delaware offers a Disabled American Veteran (DAV) plate to veterans rated 60% or higher (a $10 admin fee), and waives registration fees on one vehicle for veterans eligible for VA adaptive-equipment.
Public employment preference
Delaware adds 5 points to a veteran's initial state employment score and 10 points for disabled veterans (also claimable by certain spouses or the surviving spouses of POW/MIA or totally disabled veterans).
In state tuition
Under 38 USC 3679(c) (originally Section 702 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act), every public college that accepts Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill students must charge in state tuition to covered students using their GI Bill, regardless of state residency. The old requirement to enroll within 3 years of separation was removed by the Isakson and Roe Act effective August 1, 2021, so there is no longer a time limit after discharge. State specific extensions to this rule are noted below where applicable.
Dependent / survivor education
Delaware pays full tuition and fees for up to four years at public Delaware colleges for the children (ages 16-24, three-year residents) of veterans who died of service-related causes or were POW/MIA.
Hunting and fishing license
Free combined Delaware hunting and fishing license.
State park entrance
Delaware gives veterans and current service members with a Delaware-registered vehicle a 50% discount on the annual state parks pass. A free pass is limited to Delaware residents who served at least 90 days in Southwest Asia for OIF/OEF and were honorably discharged within the past 12 months. Delaware parks also honor the free federal lifetime Access Pass held by people with permanent disabilities, including disabled veterans.
Camping & recreation
Delaware exempts honorably discharged veterans certified by the VA as 60 percent or more service-connected disabled from hunting, trapping, and fishing license requirements (file the Veterans with Disabilities Exempt Application with DNREC; allow up to 4 weeks). Veterans with a Delaware-registered vehicle also get 50% off the annual state parks pass.
State veterans cemetery
Delaware operates two state veterans cemeteries (Bear and Millsboro) offering interment for eligible veterans, their spouses, and dependent children.
Delaware ranks 32 of 51 for rural veterans' access to accredited help: 6.98 accredited representatives per 10,000 veterans, with 21.9 percent of its veterans living rural.
Email me the Delaware benefit checklist
A clean, printable checklist of every Delaware benefit on this page - with the eligibility threshold and official source for each - sent straight to your inbox.
State legislatures revise thresholds and dollar amounts every session. The figures above are sourced from the state agency that administers each program, but the latest year is the state's word, not ours. Before you file an application, click the source link in each section and verify the current threshold.
Writing about Delaware veteran benefits? You are welcome to reference this guide. Copy the citation below and link back so your readers can verify each program against the state source, or download the benefits table.
Developers: this record is available as structured data VBD:STATE:DE