Best PlacesWilmington, MA 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. 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 ranks 1,413th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
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.
Wilmington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wilmington ranks high
- Household income$168,821 median, better than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
Where Wilmington ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wilmington
A household needs to earn about $189,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilmington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $168,821; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 1.07%, 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
Wilmington's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger 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 professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Wilmington
Wilmington has more parkland per resident than 84% of towns. The coast is about 21 minutes away. That 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 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Wilmington
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 16 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 21.1 million passengers in 2025, with 199 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Wilmington
Schools across Wilmington average an A−, better than 85% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- E Ethel Little SchoolA · 68% proficient
- South ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Alice M BarrowsA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Reading MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Andover West MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Arthur W Coolidge MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Reading Memorial HighA · 79% proficient
- Andover HighA · 78% proficient
- Wilmington HighA · 75% 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 50,332 towns.
Who Wilmington suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Wilmington
Is Wilmington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilmington ranks 1,413th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, big-city access, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs 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 $698,541. The overall cost of living runs about 36% above the national average. Set against a $168,821 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Wilmington safe?
Yes, Wilmington is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $151 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wilmington?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 12% of towns.
Is Wilmington good for families?
Schools beat 85% of towns, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $1,897 a month.
Compare Wilmington with other towns
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.