Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Wilmington is a city of 126,809, and it grades C− overall, 192nd among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. It is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top, and its police reported 516 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 91% of U.S. towns. 49% of working residents work locally in Wilmington, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 6.8% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Wilmington Historic and Archeological District and Wilmington National Cemetery. Only 28 of North Carolina’s 450 towns score lower on cost of living.
Where Wilmington beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
USS NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55) National Historic Landmark
Ariana DeBose
USS NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55) National Historic Landmark is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,689 in 1800, 115,451 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1807 and 3 maps from 1942 on.
22 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Wilmington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wilmington. Close and well known come first.
17 mi LandmarkFort Fisher
11 mi GardenOrton Plantationin town GardenAirlie Gardens
12 mi MuseumBrunswick Town
in town TheatreThalian Hall
21 mi National BattlefieldMoores Creek National Battlefield56K visitors a yearFort Fisher: Eric T. Gunther, CC BY 3.0 · Orton Plantation: AgnosticPreachersKid., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Brunswick Town: Brunswick1726, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Thalian Hall: Sanfranman59, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Moores Creek National Battlefield: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wilmington, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Wilmington.
Wilmington draws workers from Leland and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of North Carolina (mostly hurricanes).
84,688 jobs are based in Wilmington, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.5 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
The average trip to work in Wilmington is 19 minutes. Since 2013, Wilmington has added 16,096 jobs, to 84,688 in 2023. 16% of residents live below the poverty line in Wilmington.
| Wilmington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 19% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the New Hanover County Schools. Three of its 42 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roland-Grise MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 878 | B+ |
| John T Hoggard HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,082 | A |
| Isaac M Bear Early College High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 260 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 4,902 to 4,213 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Wilmington’s property crime rate is 28.9 per 1,000 residents. Wilmington reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 91% report less. Wilmington’s violent crime rate is 4 per 1,000 residents.
| Wilmington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 28.9 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 85% of North Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $1,013 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on. 469 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 87 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1983, 469 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wilmington.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
17 miles of trail in 33 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Long Leaf Park, at 97 acres.
| Wilmington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Airlie Gardens | 1 mi | 52 |
| 2. Long Leaf Park | 0.9 mi | 97 |
| 3. Halyburton Park | 0.8 mi | 55 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 10,164 U.S. towns with household incomes like Wilmington’s, it is healthier than 92%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Wilmington tracks North Carolina closely on all 32 CDC measures. 18% of Wilmington adults binge drink.
| Wilmington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 14% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Wilmington home is worth about $417,000, about the same as a year ago, 25% above the North Carolina typical home.
| Wilmington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 67% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 56% | 49% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,395 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Wilmington has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 34° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
3 within 15 miles of the center of Wilmington
About 12 of every 100 Wilmington residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
3 colleges in town.
22 places in Wilmington on the National Register of Historic Places.
67 notable people were born in Wilmington.
City in North Carolina, United States
Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 census, it is the eighth-most populous city in the state. The county seat of New Hanover County, it is the principal city of the Wilmington metropolitan area, which includes New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties. As of 2023, the region had an estimated population of 467,337. Wilmington's residential area lies between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, and the city developed as a commercial port in the colonial era. The city was founded in the 1730s, preceded in its foundation in the area by Brunswick Town and Charles Towne. These two towns were abandoned…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Wilmington.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Kings Grant (C+) is closest.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | #192 | C− | D | D | B | B+ |
| Hightsville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Silver Lake | #129 | C+ | C | — | B | B |
| Wrightsboro | #68 | B | B+ | — | B | B− |
| Kings Grant | #133 | C+ | C+ | — | B | B |
| Ogden | #64 | B | C− | — | B | A |
| Murraysville | #77 | B− | C+ | — | B | A |
| Myrtle Grove | #44 | B+ | C | — | B | A |
Silver Lake, Wrightsboro, Kings Grant, Ogden, Murraysville and Myrtle Grove report no FBI crime data of their own. Hightsville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Wilmington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Wilmington grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #192 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades B+ for health, D for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 31% of towns.
Yes. That is 5.4 years of the area's median household income ($76,471 across the Wilmington, NC metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
67 notable people were born here, including Ariana DeBose and Sugar Ray Leonard.
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