Best PlacesWilmington, VA 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. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wilmington ranks 23,651st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is 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
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 85% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of towns
Where Wilmington ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Household income$50,329 median, better than only 13% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Short commute34.2 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wilmington
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilmington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $50,329, 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's effective rate of 0.69%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
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 education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wilmington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wilmington.
What the weather is like in Wilmington, month by month
Wilmington sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 30° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 48° |
| July | 85° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Wilmington
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilmington
Schools across Wilmington average an A−, better than 85% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Carysbrook ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fluvanna MiddleA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Fluvanna County HighA− · 65% 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.
Common questions about living in Wilmington
Is Wilmington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilmington ranks 23,651st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, few empty homes, and good schools, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. 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 $251,011. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $50,329 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Wilmington safe?
Yes, Wilmington is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
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.