Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Wilmington's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Wilmington?
Your $100,000 in Wilmington has the same purchasing power as $105,164 in the average US city. You'd need $5,164 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Wilmington's cost index of 95, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Wilmington usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: where the city quietly wins: housing costs, four real seasons, none of them brutal, plus 5 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Even if other categories track the national average in Wilmington, housing comes in noticeably cheaper. Median rent is about $1,213/mo, and the housing sub-index lands at 93 (US avg = 100). That's where most of the day-to-day affordability difference shows up for newcomers.
Summers in Wilmington average about 84°F, winters around 43°F. That's the band where you get distinct seasons without either end being miserable — a real spring and fall, summers warm enough for the pool, winters cold enough for a jacket but not for survival gear.
Wilmington runs noticeably sunnier than the typical US city — about 282 clear days a year against a 205-day national average. SAD lamps don't sell well here.
Wilmington earns a Walk Score of 58/100 — above the US median, with denser neighborhoods scoring higher than the citywide aggregate suggests. A car is still useful for longer trips, but everyday life works on foot for a lot of residents.
Wilmington's air quality index averages about 34 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Wilmington is about 19 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
44% of adults 25 and over in Wilmington hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Wilmington's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Wilmington's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 43°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Wilmington's winter average of about 43°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Wilmington runs about 84°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Wilmington gets about 282 sunny days a year — well above the US average of around 205. If your mood tracks daylight, this is one of the easier US cities to live in.
Zone 9, give or take a half-zone. Wilmington's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 9 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Wilmington sits at about 46 feet (14 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Atlantic basin storms can form from June 1 to November 30, but the serious ones cluster in August, September, and the first half of October. Residents of Wilmington learn the season's rhythm fast: watch the cone, board up when it's the call, and don't shrug off the slow-mover storms — those are usually the ones that flood.
Average for an American city. Wilmington's reported crime rate of about 3,427 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
Roughly average. Wilmington's cost-of-living index is 95, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Somewhat. Wilmington earns a Walk Score of 58/100 — many daily errands are doable on foot, especially in the denser neighborhoods, but a car still helps for longer trips. Transit Score is 34 out of 100.
Roughly $66,563 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Wilmington runs about $1,213/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.