Delaware Route 7 (DE 7) is a two- to four-lane north–south highway in New Castle County, Delaware that connects U.S. Route 13 and Delaware Route 72 (DE 72) near Delaware City to the Pennsylvania border near Hockessin, where it continues into Pennsylvania as State Route 3013 (SR 3013), intersecting Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41) at an interchange. Between Delaware City and Christiana, DE 7 runs to the west of the Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) freeway through suburban areas, passing through Bear. By the Christiana Mall, DE 7 joins the DE 1 freeway and comes to an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) before the DE 1 freeway ends at the Delaware Route 58 (DE 58) interchange. After the freeway segment, DE 7 continues north as a surface road concurrent with Delaware Route 4 (DE 4) through Stanton. From Stanton to the Pennsylvania border, DE 7 heads northwest through suburban areas, passing through Pike Creek.

What is now DE 7 was built as a state highway during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1936, the route was designated to run along its present alignment between US 13 near Red Lion, Delaware and the Pennsylvania border. From the 1950s to the 1970s, DE 7 became a divided highway between Christiana and Milltown Road. With the construction of the DE 1 freeway in the 1990s, DE 7 was shifted to a portion of the freeway near the Christiana Mall. The route was also extended south to an intersection with US 13 and DE 72 as a result of the relocation of US 13 onto a portion of the freeway. The road also became a divided highway between Milltown Road and DE 72 in the 1990s. In 1999, an interchange was built at DE 58 as a result of a northward extension of DE 1 along DE 7. The interchange with I-95 is being reconstructed to include flyover ramps, with completion expected in 2013.

Delaware Route 7 (DE 7) begins at an intersection with US 13 and DE 72 to the west of Delaware City, where the road continues south as part of US 13. From the southern terminus, the route heads north on four-lane divided South Dupont Highway. The road passes through farmland and crosses Norfolk Southern's Delaware City Secondary railroad line before passing under the US 13/DE 1 freeway. After this, DE 7 narrows into a two-lane undivided road called Bear-Corbitt Road, with the former alignment of Dupont Highway branching off to the northeast. The route continues north through woodland with some areas of homes, reaching an intersection with DE 71 in the unincorporated community Red Lion. The road heads through more wooded areas with residential subdivisions, crossing Norfolk Southern's New Castle Secondary railroad line. At this point, DE 7 heads into the unincorporated community Bear and widens into a four-lane divided highway as it enters commercial areas and intersects US 40.

After this intersection, the route becomes Bear-Christiana Road and passes between suburban housing developments to the west and fields to the east. The road becomes two lanes and undivided and continues through more residential areas with some commercial development as it comes to an intersection with DE 273, where it is briefly a four-lane divided highway. Following this, DE 7 becomes East Main Street and narrows into a two-lane undivided road, heading through woods and curving to the northwest as it crosses Christina River. The route heads into the community of Christiana and passes homes, intersecting Old Baltimore Pike. At this point, DE 7 turns north onto North Old Baltimore Pike, with the name changing to Stanton-Christiana Road as it runs through more residential areas. The route turns east onto a four-lane divided highway and comes to an interchange with the DE 1 freeway southwest of the Christiana Mall, a super-regional shopping mall that is the largest in Delaware.

At this point, DE 7 heads north concurrent with DE 1 on a four-lane freeway. The freeway comes to a southbound exit and northbound entrance that serves the Christiana Mall to the east. DE 1/DE 7 continues to a modified cloverleaf interchange with I-95 (Delaware Turnpike). The road continues through more commercial areas and interchanges with DE 58, at which point the freeway segment and DE 1 ends. Past DE 58, DE 7 continues north at-grade as six-lane divided Stanton-Christiana Road, passing to the west of the Stanton Campus of Delaware Technical Community College before heading through wooded areas with some commercial development and intersecting DE 4. At this point DE 4 turns north for a concurrency with DE 7, passing through wooded areas with nearby development and over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line and White Clay Creek. The road passes to the east of Delaware Park Racetrack, a thoroughbred horse racetrack and casino, and curves northeast, heading into Stanton. At this point the two routes head into a commercial area and split into the one-way pair of Mitch Road eastbound and Main Street westbound.

DE 7 splits from DE 4 by heading northwest on four-lane divided Limestone Road. The road heads through suburban residential neighborhoods, coming to a bridge over CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision railroad line. The route heads into business areas and comes to an intersection with DE 2. Past this intersection, DE 7 heads into residential areas and becomes a four-lane undivided road. The route becomes a divided highway again as it comes to the Milltown Road intersection and enters the Pike Creek area, passing through a mix of homes, businesses, and woods. The road curves west before heading northwest again as it passes through more suburban areas and runs to the southwest of Goldey Beacom College, a private non-profit college. DE 7 turns to the north and comes to an intersection with the northern terminus of DE 72.

Following this, the road continues through suburban areas of homes with some businesses. At the intersection with Little Baltimore Road/Brackenville Road, the route curves to the northwest and narrows to a three-lane undivided road with one northbound lane and two southbound lanes that passes through wooded areas of residences, heading into the Hockessin area. DE 7 becomes a two-lane divided highway as it intersects Valley Road in a commercial areas. Past this, the route becomes a two-lane undivided road that heads through a mix of fields, woods, and residential development. DE 7 reaches its northern terminus at the Pennsylvania border, where Limestone Road continues north into that state as SR 3013, heading to an interchange with PA 41.

DE 7 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 65,874 vehicles at the south end of the DE 4 concurrency to a low of 3,777 vehicles at the Old Baltimore Pike intersection. The portion of DE 7 from the south end of the DE 1 concurrency to the Pennsylvania border is part of the National Highway System.

What would become DE 7 originally existed as a county road by 1920. By 1924, the road was paved between Christiana and Stanton and was upgraded to a state highway between Capitol Trail and New Linden Hill Road. A year later, the road was upgraded to a state highway between Bear and Christiana and between Paper Mill Road and Brackenville Road, with all the sections south of Bear, between New Linden Hill Road and Paper Mill Road and Brackenville Road and the Pennsylvania border proposed as a state highway. By 1931, these sections of state highway had been completed. When Delaware assigned state highway numbers by 1936, DE 7 was designated to run from US 13 south of Red Lion north to the Pennsylvania border, following its present alignment. By 1959, DE 7 was widened into a divided highway between Stanton and DE 2. The divided highway was extended north to Milltown Road by 1966. By 1985, DE 273 was realigned to bypass Christiana, removing it from a portion of DE 7 through the town. Also at this time, DE 7 was widened into a divided highway from the Christiana Mall north to Stanton.

By 1988, a limited-access highway paralleling DE 7 south of I-95 was under construction, which was to become part of the DE 1 freeway connecting the Wilmington area to Dover. By 1990, this freeway was completed between US 13 in Tybouts Corner and DE 273 in Christiana, at which point it became part of DE 1. By 1994, the freeway was extended north to I-95, with DE 7 being relocated onto this freeway along with DE 1 for a short distance near the Christiana Mall. The DE 1 freeway was extended from US 13 in Tybouts Corner to St. Georges by 1996, in which it incorporated a portion of the existing US 13 near Red Lion. As a result, US 13 was moved to the new freeway between DE 72 and Tybouts Corner, and DE 7 was extended south along the former alignment of US 13 to end at US 13 and DE 72 to the west of Delaware City. The divided highway portion of DE 7 was extended north from Milltown Road to DE 72 by 1999. DE 7 from I-95 to north of DE 58 became an extension of the DE 1 freeway in 1999 with an interchange built at DE 58.

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) is reconstructing the cloverleaf interchange at I-95 to include flyover ramps between southbound I-95 and southbound DE 1/DE 7 and northbound DE 1/DE 7 and northbound I-95, aiming to reduce merging and congestion at the interchange. Construction began in 2011 with work to replace the bridge over DE 1/DE 7 leading to the Christiana Mall in order to allow room for the flyover ramps; this bridge was completed in March 2012. Completion of the entire project expected in the later part of 2013.

The entire route is in New Castle County.