North Carolina · Census place 3774440
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a city in New Hanover County, North Carolina with an estimated 125,284 residents on July 1, 2024. It is the 8th largest of 335 incorporated places of 1,000+ people in the state.
- Population 2024
- 125,284
- #8 of 335 in North Carolina
- Change since 2020
- +8.1%
- +9,397 people
- Land area
- 51.4 sq mi
- + 1.61 sq mi water
- Density
- 2,439 / sq mi
- State median 1,316
Measure from here
Tools and pages that start from Wilmington
Wilmington population, 2020 to 2024
Wilmington added 9,397 residents from July 2020 to July 2024, a change of +8.1%. In the latest year it moved by +1,685. Among 147 North Carolina places of 5,000 or more, that growth ranks 50th; the median place changed by +4.7%. The median place of 5,000+ in North Carolina has 14,573 people, so Wilmington is 8.6 times that size.
Wilmington covers 51.37 square miles of land and 1.61 of water, for 2,439 people per square mile of land. The median North Carolina place of 5,000+ has 1,316, so Wilmington is denser than the typical town.
What county Wilmington is in
All of Wilmington's residents live in New Hanover County, which had 243,333 residents in 2024. Wilmington holds 51.5% of the county's population. The shaded shape is on the map above; dots mark the eight nearest places.
ZIP codes in Wilmington
5 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) overlap Wilmington by at least 10% of the ZCTA's or the city's land: 28401, 28403, 28405, 28409, 28412. ZCTAs are Census approximations of USPS ZIP code delivery areas. The list comes from the 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file, so a city that annexed land after 2020 may reach into ZIP codes not listed here.
Where Wilmington is
The Census internal point of Wilmington is at 34.209200, -77.885800. Raleigh, the capital, is 116.6 miles NNW in a straight line. The nearest larger place is Fayetteville, NC (209,496 people), 86.4 miles away. The ground at the internal point is about 14 m (46 ft) above sea level.
Internal point
- Decimal
- 34.209200, -77.885800
- DMS
- 34°12'33.12"N 77°53'8.88"W
- UTM
- 18N 234116.0E 3789118.5N
- Geohash
- dq0deet71
- Plus code
- 87646457+MM
- Time zone
- America/New_York
Daylight in Wilmington
At 34.21° N, Wilmington gets about 14 h 26 min of daylight around the June solstice and 9 h 52 min around the December solstice, a swing of 4 h 34 min. Figures are sunrise to sunset from the SunCalc model for June 21 and December 21, 2026. Month-by-month sunrise and sunset times are on the Wilmington daylight page.
Places near Wilmington
The eight nearest incorporated places of 1,000+ in North Carolina, measured between internal points. The closest is Wrightsville Beach, 5.0 miles away, with 2,411 people.
Questions people ask
What is the population of Wilmington, NC?
125,284 on July 1, 2024, in the Census Vintage 2024 estimates. That is up 9,397 (8.1%) from 115,887 in July 2020.
What county is Wilmington in?
New Hanover County. All of its residents live in that county.
What ZIP codes cover Wilmington?
5 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas overlap it by at least 10% of either area: 28401, 28403, 28405, 28409, 28412.
How far is Wilmington from Raleigh?
116.6 miles (187.7 km) in a straight line, heading NNW from Wilmington.
What is the nearest larger city to Wilmington?
Fayetteville, NC, with 209,496 residents, 86.4 miles away between internal points.
Sources and data as of
Data as of: Census Vintage 2024 subcounty estimates (July 1, 2024), 2024 Gazetteer places, 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file.
- 01Census Vintage 2024 subcounty population estimates
- 02Census 2024 Gazetteer, places
- 03Census 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file
- 04Census 2024 cartographic boundary file, counties (1:5,000,000)
- 05Open-Meteo forecast API (time zone and Copernicus GLO-90 elevation) (last verified 2026-09-30)
How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.