CNN ranked Wilmington, NC one of the best places to live. Wilmington continues to be a popular destination for tourist, college students and businesses. It continues to be an affordable place to live and work. Despite the negative publicity circulated across the country by the media, Wilmington Real Estate activity continues steady. Although it takes longer to sell houses now than in 2005, we consider that to have been an exceptional time in our real estate history. We still have affordable housing, several beaches, UNCW, a strong local economy and many other features, advantages and benefits.
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2007 2006 2005
<!--<a href="/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2007/top100/index.html"><img src="http://i.a.cnn.net/money/.element/img/1.0/buttons/button_full_list.gif" width="81" height="24" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" alt="FULL LIST"></a>-->CITY STATS Wilmington, NC Top 100 rank: N/AC
Population: 82,400
Compare Wilmington to Top 10 Best Places
|
| Financial |
| | City stats | Best places avg. |
Median family income
(per year) | $48,661 | $90,316 |
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted) | $48,906 | $82,867 |
| Sales tax | 7.00% | 6.74% |
State income tax rate
(highest bracket) | 8.00%I | 6.38% |
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket) | 6.00%I | 2.74% |
Auto insurance premiums
(Average for the state) | $2,199 | $2,121 |
Job growth %
(2000-2006) | 10.42% | 13.41% |
| Housing |
| | City stats | Best places average |
| Median home price | $261,953 | $359,352 |
<!-- <tr valign="middle"> <td>Home price gain<br>(2005-2006)</td> <td>55.00%</td> <td>14.83%</td> </tr> -->Average property taxes
(2005) | $1,367 | $3,585 |
| See homes for sale |
| See million-dollar homes |
| Education |
| | City stats | Best places average |
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles) | 1 | 29 |
Junior colleges and
technical institutes (within 30 miles) | 2 | 18 |
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average) | -3.9% | 20.1% |
Test scores math
(% above/below average) | 8.0% | 24.8% |
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits) | 93.3/6.7 | 91.1/8.9 |
| Quality of life |
| | City stats | Best places average |
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good) | 92.0% | 77.3% |
| Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) | 10 | 13 |
| Property crime incidents (per 1,000) | 79 | 206 |
Median commute time
(in minutes) | 15.0 | 23.1 |
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer | 6.1% | 15.6% |
| % population walk or bike to work | 4.5% | 2.7% |
| Leisure and culture |
| | City stats | Best places average |
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles) | 10 | 30 |
Restaurants
(within 15 miles) | 566 | 2,899 |
Bars
(within 15 miles) | 79 | 287 |
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles) | 40 | 125 |
Libraries
(within 15 miles) | 13 | 71 |
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles) | 2 | 11 |
| Ski resorts (within 100 miles) | n/a | 17 |
| Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) | 1 | 1 |
<!-- <tr valign="middle"> <td>Events (Number of sports,<br>concert and family/arts events within 15 miles)</td> <td>0</td> <td>1040</td> </tr> -->| Weather |
| | City stats | Best places average |
Annual rainfall
(inches) | 57.07 | 40.18 |
| % clear days in the area | 30 | 28 |
<!-- <tr valign="middle"> <td>Snowfall<br>(average in inches)</td> <td>2.00</td> <td>25.26</td> </tr> -->| High temp in July ° F | 89.9° | 86.1° |
| Low temp in Jan ° F | 35.8° | 24.0° |
| Health* |
| | City stats | Best places average |
Has health plan
(% of residents) | 89.9% | 90.5% |
| Body mass index (avg. for residents) | 27 | 27 |
Diabetes rates
(% of residents diagnosed) | 10.6% | 9.3% |
Hypertension rates
(% of residents diagnosed) | 38.1% | 30.6% |
| Elder-care facilities** | 18 | 107 |
| Meet the neighbors |
| | City stats | Best places average |
| Median age | 34.2 | 36.8 |
Completed at least some college
(% of residents) | 61.9% | 72.4% |
| Married | 37.9% | 60.8% |
| Divorced | 10.6% | 8.0% |
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity) | 126.8 | 59.2 |
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year) | $6,442 | $8,250 |
More recently, CNN ranked Wilmington, NC one of the top places to buy NOW. In my experience, I've met a lot of people who are and have moved to this area from the Northeast US. Some advantages I hear over and over are the weather, the people and the lack of huge property tax bills. They still can't believe the property tax rates here compared to there, even after they've been here for a few years.
Top 10 cities: Where to buy now
The real estate slump could get worse before it gets better. Business 2.0 Magazine, in its November 2006 issue, identifies 10 markets that offer great opportunities for those who have the patience to buy and hold. | Back to feature |
 |  | 7 of 10 |
7. Wilmington, NC
| 37% | Projected gain in home prices (5-year)* |
 | Median home price
2006: $217,000
2011: $297,000 |
 | Population
2006: 325,000
2011: 361,000 |
 | Per capita income
2006: $30,500
2011: $38,300 |
| *Metro region statistics |
Nestled between the Cape Fear River and North Carolina's Inner Bank beaches, Wilmington has great golf, mild weather, natural beauty, and a relatively cheap cost of living, all of which make it popular with both permanent residents and second-home vacationers.
But it hasn't always been this way. It was an isolated backwater until 1990, when the final 120-mile stretch of I-40 opened. Now the Research Triangle's well-heeled tech workers can be at the beach in three hours.
As the only city of any significant size on the North Carolina coast, Wilmington may be just at the beginning of its boom. It has a seaport, an international airport, and a UNC campus. But it has also maintained its "historic" ambience, bringing it another revenue stream: Hollywood has filmed 180 features here during the past two decades.
CAUTION: Wilmington has seen a high proportion of speculators invade the region in recent years. Barron's estimated last year that 38 percent of its homeowners are nonresident investors who use their properties only occasionally, if at all. One other word of warning: hurricanes.
Forbes ranks Wilmington #19 Best Places
#19 Wilmington NC
Population: 253,000
 | RANK | | |  | Engineers1 | 33 | | |  | Cost of Doing Business2 | 38 | | |  | Cost Of Living3 | 142 | | |  | Crime Rate4 | 145 | | |  | Culture & Leisure5 | 43 | | |  | Educational Attainment6 | 40 | | |  | Income Growth* | 101 | | |  | Job Growth* | 69 | | |  | Net Migration* | 8 | | | |  | Overall | | 19 |
| |
 See Also: |
1 Engineers as a percent of total employment.
2 Index based on cost of labor, energy, taxes and office space.
3 Index based on cost of housing, utilities, transportation and other expenditures.
4 Crimes per 100,000 residents.
5 Index based on museums, theaters, golf course, sports teams and other activities.
6 Share of Population over age 25 with a bachelor's degree or higher.
* 5-year annualized figures.
NA: Not available, not applicable.
Sources: Economy.com; Sperling's BestPlaces; FBI Index of Crime. Being in Wilmington is fun. If you want to stay busy, there's never a shortage of things to do and see. There's plenty of free and cheap activities. There's also plenty of activities you could spend money on. Getting to Wilmington is easy via I-40 and the ILM airport. Other options include Hwy 17 from the north and south and Hwy 74/76 from the west.
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