All Delaware places > New Castle County > Wilmington
An editorial illustration of Wilmington, Delaware
New Castle County · Delaware incorporated municipality

Wilmington, DE

Home to Strayer University-Delaware, alongside 70,850 residents inside the boundary.

Population
70,850
DPC official estimate
Local jobs
50,870
LODES workplace jobs
Median income
$58,671
ACS 5-year estimate
School locations
28
FirstMap site count
City overview

The forces shaping Wilmington now.

A missing measure is unavailable coverage, not zero or an absence claim.

02
Work

Wilmington's own employer table mixes in institutions from other counties.

The city's FY2024 ACFR "Principal Employers" table is labeled as New Castle County data but includes Kent- and Sussex-County institutions such as Dover Air Force Base and Beebe Healthcare — the city's own report mislabels statewide employers as local ones.

Table's stated scope: New Castle County · Out-of-county entries found: Dover AFB, Beebe Healthcare, Bally's Dover

Source: City of Wilmington FY2024 ACFR, Principal Employers table.
03
Civic

Wilmington's representation splits across multiple districts.

5 House districts and 3 Senate districts cover the boundary, so no single legislator speaks for the whole place.

House districts: 5 · Senate districts: 3

Source: Delaware General Assembly / City of Wilmington, via Delaware FirstMap, checked 2026-09-12.
04
Education

Wilmington is home to a named college or university.

Strayer University-Delaware reports 161 students sits inside the boundary, a real institutional anchor beyond the resident population count.

Institution: Strayer University-Delaware · Reported students: 161

Source: College Scorecard ↗.
People

Who lives here—and which households shape demand?

Population uses Delaware's official Population Consortium estimate, which does not carry the ACS survey's sampling error for small places. Households and other figures below remain ACS survey estimates.

Population
70,850

Delaware Population Consortium official estimate

Source: dpc projections 2024 · 2024 ↗
2050 population projection
71,740

Planning projection, not an observed outcome

Source: dpc projections 2024 · 2050 ↗
Households
31,655
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Median age
37
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Median household income
$58,671
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Bachelor's degree or higher
33%

Among residents age 25 and older. ±2% margin of error.

Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Population composition

Residents by Census category

Each share uses the total Wilmington population as its denominator. Hispanic or Latino may be of any race; the other broad categories are non-Hispanic. Detailed Asian-alone groups use a separate Census race table.

Black, non-Hispanic52%
White, non-Hispanic29%
Hispanic or Latino12%
Two or more races, non-Hispanic5%
Asian Indian1%
Chinese, except Taiwanese1%
Korean0%
Taiwanese0%
Vietnamese0%
Pakistani0%
Filipino0%
Sri Lankan0%
Other Asian, not specified0%
Two or more Asian groups0%
Malaysian0%
Cambodian0%
Indonesian0%

Sources: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗; census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗. Positive detailed Asian estimates are shown in this same composition list; published zeroes are omitted and are not proof of absence. Small differences may be within ACS survey uncertainty.

Source: dpc projections 2024 · 2024 ↗. ACS estimates cover a five-year survey period; margin of error is reported where provided.

Work

What work is located inside Wilmington?

LODES counts jobs by workplace location, not the industries of residents or a named-employer roster. The sector mix can show the shape of the local job base, not dependence on individual companies.

Jobs by sector

Latest LODES workplace-job estimates. Shares use the total local job count. Commuter-flow context (who works here vs. lives here) is intentionally omitted until the Delaware panel can identify scoped destinations without overstating cross-border precision — see real work-destination distances in the Mobility section below.

Finance12,603
Professional services8,554
Healthcare & social assistance6,425
Education3,906
Construction / real estate3,051
Administrative & support2,981

Source: lodes8 wac de 2023 · 2023 ↗.

Housing

What kinds of homes exist—and where is pressure visible?

Housing estimates describe existing conditions. Permit and development records signal reported activity, not starts, completions, or a complete construction census.

Owner-occupied
48%
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Median owner value
$231,400
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Vacancy rate
11%
Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗
Two-bedroom rent benchmark
$1,860
Source: hud fmr 2027 · 2027 ↗
Owner-home values

A Census estimate, not a market price

These estimates cover owner-occupied homes only. They are not listings, sales, appraisals, or an all-homes measure; the final Census band is open-ended at $2M+.

Median estimate$231,400
Middle half of homes$157,300–$351,300Lower to upper quartile of owner estimates
Luxury-home concentration0%Estimated at $2M+
Under $500k90%
$500–749k5%
$750–999k4%
$1–1.49M1%
$1.5–1.99M0%
$2M+0%

Source: census acs5 2024 · 2024 ↗.

Existing housing mix

Detached homes10%
Attached homes54%
Small multifamily11%
5+ unit multifamily25%
Mobility

What is the scheduled supply—and how do workers usually commute?

GTFS measures scheduled service at stops within the boundary. It is not ridership, reliability, or a guarantee that a particular trip is practical. ACS commute modes are a separate survey estimate.

Typical drive times

About how long does it take to get where people go?

Work destinations are selected from observed resident job flows. These are broad, reviewed planning ranges from representative parts of Wilmington—not live-traffic or door-to-door predictions.

Wilmington

Wilmington is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Wilmington, representing 53% of matched resident jobs from this place.

5–20 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

New Castle

New Castle is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Wilmington, representing 11% of matched resident jobs from this place.

15–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Newark

Newark is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Wilmington, representing 6% of matched resident jobs from this place.

25–50 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Dover

Dover is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Wilmington, representing 4% of matched resident jobs from this place.

85–150 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Method, review date, and sources

Planning estimate; actual time varies by departure time, route, traffic, weather, incidents, and closures.

Estimates are derived from reviewed origin/destination coordinates using the same documented distance-to-time heuristic as the Washington pilot (circuity factor and assumed effective speed by corridor type and period), then deliberately widened and rounded to a broad band. No live routing or traffic API was called. Two methodology differences from the Washington pilot, both disclosed: each place uses a single Census TIGER internal point as its representative origin rather than three job-weighted directional sample origins, and work destinations are selected from Delaware's own place-to-place LODES flow file rather than block-level clustering—out-of-state commute flows (aggregated to the Pennsylvania/Maryland/New Jersey state level in that source) are excluded because a state has no single routable coordinate.

Estimates reviewed 2026-09-12. Starting point: Wilmington representative point.

City boundary and regional context● nearby places
Daily life

Institutions and listed activity inside the boundary.

These are bounded inventories, not measures of access, enrollment, foot traffic, or the full local business economy. People routinely use services across place lines.

Local field guide

Places for everyday needs in Wilmington

Care, errands, food, fitness, and personal services gathered into one browsable directory.

Hospitals3 in cityView all
Clinics and urgent care47 listedView 8 places
Pharmacies59 listedView 8 places
Coffee35 listedView 8 places
Fitness25 listedView 8 places
Groceries38 listedView 8 places
Convenience27 listedView 8 places
Restaurants288 listedView 8 places
Salons and barbers96 listedView 8 places

Counts reflect current directory records associated with the city, not a complete business census or a measure of access. Large categories show a sample.

Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), snapshot 2026-08-13; Overture Maps Foundation, release 2026-08-19.0; U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (NPPES NPI Registry), snapshot 2026-09-12.

Public library footprint

3 public-library branches inside Wilmington

Floor area shows the scale of the physical branches. The national IMLS outlet file does not report circulation at the branch level, so checkouts are not shown here; people routinely use libraries across city lines.

Branch floor area
75,828 sq ft

All matched branches must report floor area before a city total is shown.

North Wilmington LibraryWilmington Institute Library
3400 North Market Street, Wilmington DE 1980212,636 sq ft~43 avg. hours/week
Wilmington Institute LibraryWilmington Institute Library
10 East 10Th Street, Wilmington DE 1980145,592 sq ft~54 avg. hours/week
Woodlawn LibraryDepartment Of Community Services
2020 W. 9Th Street, Wilmington DE 1980517,600 sq ft~41.6 avg. hours/week

Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey (PLS), outlet file, 2024. Branches are matched by the outlet's reported coordinate falling inside the place boundary; bookmobiles and books-by-mail-only service are excluded because they have no fixed location.

The schools inside Wilmington.

Institution counts and enrollment remain separate. A school can serve students from outside the place, and residents may attend a school across the boundary or elsewhere in their district.

Public elementary17
  • Douglass SchoolGrades KN12
  • East Side Charter SchoolGrades KN08
  • Edison (Thomas A.) Charter SchoolGrades KN08
  • First State Montessori Academy (Lower School)Grades KN03
See all 17
  • First State Montessori Academy (Upper School)Grades 0408
  • First State SchoolGrades 0112
  • Harlan (David W. ) Elementary SchoolGrades BK05
  • Joseph E. Johnson Jr. Elementary SchoolGrades KN05
  • Kuumba Academy Charter SchoolGrades KN08
  • Lewis (William C.) Dual Language Elementary SchoolGrades KN05
  • Maurice Pritchett Sr. AcademyGrades 0108
  • Pulaski Early Education CenterGrades ECKN
  • Red Clay Alternative EducationGrades KN08
  • Shortlidge (Evan G.) AcademyGrades KN02
  • Stubbs Early Education CenterGrades ECKN
  • The Bayard SchoolGrades 0108
  • Warner Elementary SchoolGrades 0305
Public middle3
  • Calloway (Cab) School of the ArtsGrades 0612
  • Freire Charter SchoolGrades 0812
  • duPont (Pierre S.) Middle SchoolGrades 0608
Public high4
  • Charter School of WilmingtonGrades 0912
  • Great Oaks Charter SchoolGrades 0912
  • Howard High School of TechnologyGrades 0912
  • Pyle (Sarah) AcademyGrades 0912
Other public programs4
  • Brandywine Administrative Office - TransportationGrades UnGr
  • Delaware Skills CenterGrades Adlt
  • Parkway AcademyGrades UnGr
  • Red Clay - TechnologyGrades UnGr
College and university locations
Strayer University-DelawarePrivate for-profit · 161 reported students*

*Scorecard student size is institution-level and may combine multiple reported locations; it is not necessarily enrollment at this point.

Public-school names and grade levels come from Delaware Department of Education / Delaware FirstMap ↗. College coverage: College Scorecard ↗.

Civic

Who represents Wilmington today?

State House and Senate districts are drawn independently of municipal boundaries, so a place can span more than one district per chamber.

State legislature

Reflects the current Delaware FirstMap district snapshot; a vacancy, resignation, or mid-term appointment can lag this by a few weeks.

Source: Delaware General Assembly / City of Wilmington, via Delaware FirstMap, checked 2026-09-12.

Wilmington City Council

PresidentERNEST "TRIPPI" CONGO II
At-largeALEXANDER D. HACKETT, JAMES SPADOLA, LATISHA BRACY, MARIA D. CABRERA
District 1COBY J. OWENS
District 2SHANÉ N. DARBY
District 3ZANTHIA OLIVER
District 4MICHELLE HARLEE
District 5CHRISTIAN WILLAUER
District 6YOLANDA M. MCCOY
District 7CHRIS JOHNSON
District 8NATHAN FIELD

Source: Delaware General Assembly / City of Wilmington, via Delaware FirstMap, checked 2026-09-12.

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