significant highway serving the town, connecting northwards towards Dover and southward to Salisbury. U.S. Route 9 also serves Laurel, heading northeastward from its terminus at US 13 toward Georgetown along County Seat Highway. Delaware Route 24 is the third numbered route to serve the town, traversing the region on an east-west alignment through the center of the town. DART First State operates the Route 212 bus that connects Laurel with Delmar and Georgetown. The Delmarva Central Railroad's Delmarva Subdivision line passes north-south through Laurel. Geography Laurel is located on the Atlantic Coastal Plain in southwestern Delaware at (38.5565041, −75.5713141). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (4.07%) is water. Demographics 957 families, 1,389 households, 3,668 people reside in the town. The population density was . There were 1,561 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 55.56% White, 39.42% African American, 0.35% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.20% from other races, and 2.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.32% of the population. There were 1,389 households, out of which 37.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.4% were married couples living together, 26.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.19. In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 33.2% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $28,321, and the median income for a family was $30,329. Males had a median income of $28,006 versus $18,550 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,594. About 18.7% of families and 21.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.6% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.