Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Wilmington (7.3%) than in 84% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Wilmington; the top destination outside it is New Castle (5%, 5 miles). Wilmington grades C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Wilmington is behind 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Wilmington in brief
No single place dominates Wilmington’s commute
The biggest draw, New Castle, gets only 5% of working residents, and 61% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Wilmington residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Wilmington draws workers from far and wide
The 47,595 jobs in Wilmington are filled from a wide area. Wilmington’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 15%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Wilmington is where the jobs are
Wilmington has 47,595 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Most Wilmington residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
The jobs in Wilmington pay better than its residents’ jobs
74% of the jobs based in Wilmington pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 54% of the jobs Wilmington residents hold. 87% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Wilmington. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Wilmington
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wilmington is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #32 of 37 in Delaware. Job access by car holds Wilmington’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wilmington could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Where Wilmington’s workers come from
Where Wilmington clocks in
5% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Wilmington by day and by night
On a workday 23,083 residents head out to work, 6,180 work right here, and 41,415 people come in from elsewhere.
About 92,000 people are in Wilmington on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How far it is to work from Wilmington
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
47,595 jobs are based in Wilmington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wilmington, 2013 → 2023: 50,973 → 47,595. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wilmington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 24 minutes from Wilmington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wilmington workers work from home, vs 15% across Delaware. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 29,267 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Delaware: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Wilmington is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wilmington is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #1 of 37 in Delaware. Both inputs place Wilmington near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 34,822 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 97% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 24.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 22.5% of Wilmington households have no vehicle (Delaware 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Wilmington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Wilmington sits among U.S. towns of 51,000 to 99,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 541 | Kingsport TN | 57,530 | $52K | 20.7% | 4.9% | 42% | C |
| 542 | Poinciana FL | 75,068 | $68K | 14.9% | 6.3% | 2% | C |
| 543 | Wilmington DE | 73,512 | $59K | 21.4% | 7.3% | 21% | C |
| 544 | Mishawaka IN | 51,226 | $54K | 16.4% | 6.8% | 22% | C |
| 545 | Lynchburg VA | 81,347 | $58K | 18.6% | 5.3% | 48% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 602 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Wilmington, the top three, the last and three more from Delaware.
Wilmington and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Edgemoor (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wilmington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | – | C | A+ | 24 min | $58,671 |
| Edgemoor | 1% | C+ | A+ | 26 min | $59,424 |
| Elsmere | under 1% | C+ | A | 24 min | $67,944 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wilmington’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Wilmington: questions
What is the median household income in Wilmington?
$58,671 (±$3,302) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $84,954 across Delaware and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wilmington?
21.4%, against 10.4% across Delaware and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wilmington?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Delaware and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wilmington work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Castle (5%, 5 mi), Philadelphia (5%, 28 mi), Newark (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wilmington walkable?
Wilmington is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.0 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wilmington without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 97% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wilmington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wilmington
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.