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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Wilmington, NC
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Wilmington profile


Living in Wilmington



Wilmington is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 120,324 people and 48 associated neighborhoods, Wilmington is the eighth largest community in North Carolina.

Wilmington real estate is some of the most expensive in North Carolina, although Wilmington house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.

Also of interest is that Wilmington has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 14.67% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Wilmington is made interesting by being both a reasonably big city and having a major college student population: students here will find that the city provides a lot of amenities, culture, and opportunities for them. Wilmington is more than just a college town, however, though the thousands of students certainly are a major part of the character of the city, as well as a contributor to the local economy.

Not only is Wilmington a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a very large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. That’s because Wilmington is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Wilmington a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

Wilmington is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

The citizens of Wilmington are among the most well-educated in the nation: 43.62% of adults in Wilmington have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Wilmington in 2018 was $42,750, which is wealthy relative to North Carolina, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $171,000 for a family of four. However, Wilmington contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Wilmington is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Wilmington home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Wilmington residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Wilmington include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in Wilmington is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Other Asian languages.