AreaProfile

28412Wilmington, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 28412.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 19% of 4,073 published ZIP areas71
Housing affordability3055th of 4,553 published ZIP areas64
ClimateTop 13% of 4,621 published ZIP areas83
Physical resilience3479th of 4,554 published ZIP areas27
AccessTop 37% of 4,623 published ZIP areas97
Economic stabilityTop 43% of 4,591 published ZIP areas63
The quick read

28412 ranks in the top 19% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.3% and median household income of $71,636.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, coastal flooding and ice storm.

A major airport is 9 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
44,166
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$71,636
Top 50% nationally
Density
1,986/sq mi
22.2 sq mi of land
Median age
40.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Wilmington
North Carolina
Metro area
Wilmington, NC
Nearest major airport
ILM
9 mi · Wilmington Intl
Median home value
$371,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.3% is lower than 92% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.5% over the past year, to 63,851 employed residents.

44% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 83% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,615$71,636Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,378$46,647Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.2%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.4 minBottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher44.4%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment63,851Top 38%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.4%Top 45%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.5%Top 38%June 2026
Labor force66,021Top 38%June 2026
Labor force participation67.1%Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,480Bottom 13%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,800Bottom 11%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.5%Bottom 18%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.3%Bottom 8%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202472k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $71,636 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 — Wilmington, NC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons6,310$30,790
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,100$27,460
Registered Nurses5,040$80,970
Waiters and Waitresses4,920$30,610
Cashiers4,860$28,520
Cooks, Fast Food3,880$27,500

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Wilmington, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,411 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.2 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
23.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,411
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$371,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.19Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate58.4%Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±87521,423Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$39$1,411Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,096$371,900Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.6%Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.9%Bottom 27%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 →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 60.1 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WILMINGTON INTL AP, 9.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND8.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation60.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing35°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

27 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, coastal flooding and ice storm.

HurricaneHigh
Ice stormModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, winter weather, tornado, inland flooding, heat wave, wildfire, earthquake, cold wave, strong wind, hail, drought, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Wilmington IntlILM9 mi8,016 ft
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR66 mi9,503 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO84 mi11,498 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.

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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
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
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.

28412 vs Wilmington

How this ZIP area compares with Wilmington as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

28412
Wilmington
Median household income
$71,636
vs
$66,738
Per capita income
$46,647
vs
$49,405
Population density
1,986/sq mi
vs
2,352/sq mi
Median home value
$371,900
vs
$383,800
Median gross rent
$1,411
vs
$1,395
Homeownership rate
58.4%
vs
47.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
44.4%
vs
46.8%
Poverty rate
11.2%
vs
16.0%
Median age
40.8
vs
37.1

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.