Best PlacesWilmington, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wilmington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wilmington ranks 198th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Its strengths are state infrastructure and health care access. The cost shows up in the weather, noise, and internet speeds.
The best neighborhoods in Wilmington
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Wilmington
The parts of Wilmington, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Mayfield & Cloutier Court
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Westmoreland
Crime runs lower, though streets are more car-dependent.
Hilltop, Cool Springs & The Flats
More homes sit empty and prices have run up more.
Brandywine Village, 9th Ward & Northwest Wilmington
Health care is harder to reach and tree cover is thinner.
Hedgeville, Browntown & Downtown
More households have young kids, though fewer residents vote.
11th St Bridge
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Wilmington shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Wilmington's strengths and weaknesses
Wilmington lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure, health care access, and tree cover carry most of that.
The one real hole is the weather, near the bottom of the country. Noise and internet speeds also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Wilmington ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of cities
Where Wilmington ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 5% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of cities
- School gradeD+, better than only 9% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Wilmington
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilmington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,680, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Wilmington's effective rate of 0.73%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wilmington
Wilmington runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wilmington.
Who works in Wilmington, and how
Work in Wilmington centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Wilmington
Wilmington has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wilmington and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wilmington, month by month
Wilmington sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Wilmington
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 19 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilmington
Schools across Wilmington average a D+, better than 9% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- William F. Cooke Jr. ElementaryB · 49% proficient
- Linden Hill Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- First State Montessori AcademyB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dupont (pierre S.) Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Dupont (h.b.) Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Springer Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Charter School Of WilmingtonA+ · 87% proficient
- Calloway (cab) School Of The ArtsA− · 59% proficient
- Conrad Schools Of ScienceB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wilmington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wilmington measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Wilmington against the other 444 cities.
Who Wilmington suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of cities and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Wilmington
Is Wilmington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilmington ranks 198th of 445 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, health care access, and tree cover, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wilmington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $351,755. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $93,680 median income, cost of living beats 73% of cities.
Is Wilmington safe?
Wilmington is safer than 24% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $486 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wilmington?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 5% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Wilmington?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Mayfield & Cloutier Court, Westmoreland, and Hilltop, Cool Springs & The Flats. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Wilmington good for families?
Schools beat 9% of cities, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $1,109 a month.
Is Wilmington good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 8% of cities. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Wilmington with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wilmington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wilmington represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Wilmington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wilmington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wilmington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wilmington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wilmington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wilmington detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.