AreaProfile

Wilmington, Delaware

Area Profile

71,727 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Wilmington, in New Castle County.

56
Area Score
Bottom 25% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1516th of 1,567 published cities26
Growth979th of 1,503 published cities42
Housing affordability1001st of 1,876 published cities73
ClimateTop 49% of 1,876 published cities71
Physical resilienceTop 46% of 1,849 published cities61
Access978th of 1,876 published cities94
Economic stability1495th of 1,876 published cities44
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 6.3% and the Opportunity signal places Wilmington in the bottom 3%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 101 units authorized over the past twelve months, 53% below the prior year.

A major airport is 18 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
71,727
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,671
Bottom 37% nationally
Density
6,583/sq mi
10.9 sq mi of land
Median age
37.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New Castle County
Delaware
Metro area
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Nearest major airport
PHL
18 mi · Philadelphia Intl
Median home value
$231,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.3% is lower than 7% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.3% over the past year, to 34,349 employed residents.

33% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 74% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,302$58,671Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,740$40,332Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate21.4%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.4 minBottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher33.1%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment34,349Top 36%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.0%Bottom 20%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.3%Bottom 13%June 2026
Labor force36,661Top 35%June 2026
Labor force participation66.0%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$71,730Top 39%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$54,310Top 39%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 21%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.3%Top 7%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/069.44.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.3% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202459k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,671 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides158,280$29,800
Registered Nurses73,790$101,180
Fast Food and Counter Workers69,080$32,220
General and Operations Managers68,730$121,630
Retail Salespersons63,990$34,810
Cashiers54,100$33,050

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,224 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.9 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
25.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,224
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$231,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.94Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate48.0%Bottom 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±81135,514Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$46$1,224Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,451$231,400Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.0%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.9%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
42/ 100
Ranks 979 of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 73,176 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

71% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 1.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
101
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.4
Bottom 34% nationally
Year over year
−53%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
71.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202473k71k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202220232024202530444
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−51%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.3 inches, including 20.2 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WILMINGTON NEW CASTLE CO AP, 5.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation45.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall20.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing44°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

61 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and hurricane.

Winter weatherModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
Strong windModerate
DroughtModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, cold wave, ice storm, tornado, lightning, wildfire, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 18 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Philadelphia IntlPHL18 mi12,000 ft
Atlantic City IntlACY54 mi10,001 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI72 mi10,503 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
56
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia County1,579,70668vs Wilmington
CamdenCamden County71,496vs Wilmington
LevittownBucks County50,926vs Wilmington
SicklervilleCamden County44,998vs Wilmington
NorristownMontgomery County35,89372vs Wilmington
ChesterDelaware County33,61964vs Wilmington
Drexel HillDelaware County30,451vs Wilmington
NewarkNew Castle County30,33050vs Wilmington
King of PrussiaMontgomery County25,857vs Wilmington

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Wilmington

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
1980541,402$60,22155
1980226,051$53,81254
1980322,279$135,21864
1980116,327$52,81054
1980914,311$81,28859
198069,777$88,85560