Wilmington 4plexes: Buy a Fourplex and House Hack in Wilmington
A fourplex purchase in Wilmington starts with the port city's own numbers. With about 126,809 people, a median household income of $63,165, and a typical home value of $416,464, Wilmington gives an owner-occupant buyer a coastal market where the math runs differently from the big inland metros, and this page walks through that Wilmington math in plain terms.
Stats snapshot: Wilmington, North Carolina
The table below opens with three headline numbers for Wilmington: about 126,809 residents in Wilmington, median household income of $63,165 in Wilmington, and a typical home value of $416,464 in Wilmington. Population sets the depth of the tenant pool in Wilmington, income sets what households in Wilmington can pay, and the typical value sets the entry price for a buyer in Wilmington. Every later section on this page about Wilmington comes back to those three Wilmington figures.
| Measure | Wilmington | Raleigh (state capital) |
|---|---|---|
| Population, July 1, 2025 (Census Vintage 2025) | 126,809 | 506,306 |
| Median household income (ACS 2024 1-year, B19013) | $63,165 | $85,060 |
| Households earning under $50,000 | 39.2% | 26.8% |
| Households earning $50,000 to $99,999 | 29.6% | 30.1% |
| Households earning $100,000 to $199,999 | 21.4% | 27.5% |
| Households earning $200,000 or more | 9.8% | 15.5% |
| Median gross rent (ACS 2024 1-year, B25064) | $1,541 a month | $1,661 a month |
| Median earnings, workers 16+ (ACS 2024 1-year, B20017) | $37,410 | $50,462 |
| Typical home value (Zillow ZHVI, September 2026) | $416,464 | $424,663 |
The income mix in Wilmington shapes the rental market in Wilmington more than any single median for Wilmington can: 68.8% of households in Wilmington earn under $100,000, while only 9.8% of households in Wilmington earn $200,000 or more. A fourplex buyer in Wilmington is therefore renting mostly to working households in Wilmington, so a Wilmington building priced for the middle of that Wilmington spread will draw a deeper applicant pool in Wilmington than one priced for the top of it.
Buyer help and loans in Wilmington
Your loan type determines your down payment in Wilmington, your monthly payment in Wilmington, and sometimes whether the property in Wilmington qualifies at all. The Loan Types page sets out FHA (3.5% down, 1-4 units) for Wilmington, conventional (5% down, 2-4 units) for Wilmington, VA (typically no down payment, eligible veterans) for Wilmington, HomeReady and Home Possible (5% down, income-capped) for Wilmington, and USDA (not for fourplexes in Wilmington).
The fitting set for Wilmington is short: FHA (3.5% down, 1-4 units) for Wilmington, conventional (5% down, owner-occupied 2-4 units) for Wilmington, VA (typically no down payment, eligible veterans) for Wilmington, plus HomeReady and Home Possible (5% down, capped at 80% of area median income) for Wilmington.
Do not budget a Wilmington purchase around help that cannot apply in Wilmington: USDA does not cover fourplexes in Wilmington at all, and many state and local assistance programs require a single-family, one-unit home in Wilmington, so neither fits a four-unit purchase in Wilmington unless the program's own rules for Wilmington say otherwise.
Because 68.8% of households in Wilmington earn under $100,000, many buyers in Wilmington may fall under the income caps for HomeReady and Home Possible for Wilmington (80% of area median income for Wilmington), though the cap for Wilmington is set by the area median for the property's location in Wilmington, not by the city bands for Wilmington. For those buyers in Wilmington the realistic low-down-payment routes for Wilmington include FHA at 3.5% down in Wilmington or conventional at 5% down on an owner-occupied 2-4 unit property in Wilmington, both detailed on the Loan Types page for Wilmington. Income in Wilmington does not change the programs available for Wilmington; it changes which ones a Wilmington buyer qualifies for.
Start with the Loan Types page for the full comparison for a Wilmington purchase, then confirm your situation with a lender.
What living in Wilmington looks like
Pictured above: the Alton Lennon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Wilmington. Tenants in Wilmington choose a home in Wilmington, not just a unit in Wilmington, and in a port city of about 126,809 people like Wilmington, a building near the places people in Wilmington already gather — the downtown streets of Wilmington and the Riverwalk along the Cape Fear in Wilmington — has a natural advantage in Wilmington.
What does the owner in Wilmington actually gain? The three rents in Wilmington reduce the out-of-pocket housing cost in Wilmington, sometimes to a fraction of what a single-family mortgage in Wilmington would run. In Wilmington, that gain depends on the building's real rents in Wilmington against its price in Wilmington, not on the city medians for Wilmington — a median gross rent in Wilmington of $1,541 a month is a starting reference for Wilmington, not a promise for any one property in Wilmington.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates (tables B19001, B19013, B25064, B20017); Census Vintage 2025 population estimates, July 1, 2025; Zillow Research ZHVI, September 2026. Typical home value is the Zillow ZHVI modeled typical value, not a median sale price.