Best PlacesWilmington Island, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wilmington Island, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wilmington Island ranks 9,827th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wilmington Island
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.
Wilmington Island's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wilmington Island ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
Where Wilmington Island ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wilmington Island
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilmington Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,181, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Island's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 10 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 Island
Wilmington Island 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 Island.
Who works in Wilmington Island, and how
Work in Wilmington Island centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wilmington Island
Wilmington Island has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of towns. The coast is about 12 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Wilmington Island and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wilmington Island, month by month
Wilmington Island sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 51° | 40° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 70° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Wilmington Island
The nearest airport, Savannah/Hilton Head International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilmington Island
Schools across Wilmington Island average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- May Howard Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Marshpoint Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Isle Of Hope SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Coastal Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Islands High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wilmington Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wilmington Island 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 Island against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wilmington Island
Is Wilmington Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilmington Island ranks 9,827th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wilmington Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $444,776. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $101,181 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Wilmington Island safe?
Yes, Wilmington Island is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $160 per resident a year.
Compare Wilmington Island with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wilmington Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wilmington Island 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 Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wilmington Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wilmington Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wilmington Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wilmington Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wilmington Island 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.