Welcome to Wilmington ...
The city of Wilmington is located in New Castle County<1> and is the County Seat for New Castle County.
Wilmington was established in 1638.
When the people of Wilmington refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Wilmingtonian<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Wilmington has a population of 70,372 people<3> (see below for details).
The community of Wilmington is near sea level<4>.
Time Zone: Wilmington lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Wilmington lies within the (302) area code.
The ZIP codes for Wilmington: 19801-19810, 19850, 19880, 19884-19887, 19889-19899<5>
Websites for Wilmington ...
Official Website: www.ci.wilmington.de.us/
Chamber of Commerce: www.dscc.com/
Junior League: www.jrleaguewilm.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Wilmington had an population of 70,372 people. This is a decrease of 0.68% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 3.15% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Wilmington had a population of 70,851 people (or 13.16% of the total population of New Castle County). This makes Wilmington the county's most populous community.
The population of Wilmington represents 7.89% of the population of Delaware (which has 897,934 people), making it the state's most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 70,851 people, the population of Wilmington decreased 2.5% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 72,664 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Wilmington.
Communities Also Named Wilmington ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 17 communities that are also named Wilmington - they are located in Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois (2), Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio (3), Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wilmington.
Communities near Wilmington ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Wilmington.
- Newark
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark
- Newark is located in New Castle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 33,849 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newark <6>
- Chester
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
- Chester is located in Delaware County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 33,692 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chester <6>
- West Chester
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chester
- West Chester is located in Chester County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,048 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Chester <6>
- Elkton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkton have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
- Elkton is located in Cecil County (MD)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,665 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkton <6>
- Darby
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darby
- Darby is located in Delaware County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,704 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Darby <6>
- Lansdowne
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lansdowne have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansdowne
- Lansdowne is located in Delaware County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,641 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lansdowne <6>
- Collingdale
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collingdale
- Collingdale is located in Delaware County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,781 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collingdale <6>
- Brookhaven
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookhaven have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhaven
- Brookhaven is located in Delaware County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,053 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookhaven <6>
- Glenolden
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenolden have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenolden
- Glenolden is located in Delaware County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,098 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenolden <6>
- Ridley Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridley Park
- Ridley Park is located in Delaware County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,067 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ridley Park <6>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Wilmington. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Wilmington.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Wilmington. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wilmington.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Wilmington. Our list includes 156 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Wilmington.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Wilmington ...
Looking for more information about Wilmington? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Wilmington, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Wilmington.
Adding Wilmington to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Wilmington in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Wilmington was in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).
We also found Wilmington in the book titled .<8> From that list, the Wilmington post office opened in 1821.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Wilmington.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Wilmington: www.ci.wilmington.de.us/
The official website for New Castle County: www.co.new-castle.de.us/
The official website for State of Delaware: https://delaware.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Delaware's counties, including New Castle, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Wilmington refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Wilmington may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Wilmington. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Wilmington - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Wilmington). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Wilmington or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Wilmington includes: 19801, 19802, 19803, 19804, 19805, 19806, 19807, 19808, 19809, 19850, 19880, 19884, 19885, 19886, 19889, 19890, 19891, 19892, 19893, 19894, 19895, 19896, 19897, 19898 & 19899. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <8> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |