If you’ve just arrived in Wilmington or nearby, you probably don’t know how delighted we are you’re here. In fact, you’ve probably been stuck at home waiting out the pandemic. Well…we are happy you’ve moved here and we’re eager to meet you. So…

Welcome to Wilmington! Thank you for Choosing Cape Fear!

You’ve made a great choice. The Cape Fear Region truly has it all – beautiful waterfronts, vibrant downtowns, excellent university, abundant arts and culture, affordable living, the list goes on and on. And it offers a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem with lots of support for new innovative businesses of all types.
 
You’re also not alone. As the saying goes…great minds think alike. If you missed the headlines, according to an annual study prepared by United Van Lines since 1977, Wilmington was the number one city in 2020 for inbound moves in the United States.

The study shows residents across the United States continue to move southbound and westbound. While Wilmington was the number one city for inbound moves, overall North Carolina logs in at number six, firmly in the Top 10 states, for inbound moves.

Does this sound like you? The top three reasons new residents chose North Carolina are 1) a job (37.4%), 2) to be closer to family (27.9%), and 3) retirement (23.9%). I found it surprising that lifestyle ranked fourth with just 15.9%. When I poll my undergraduate entrepreneurship students, 80% claim beach proximity was the primary reason they chose UNCW, with the second most-cited reason being our highly acclaimed academic programs – especially in Creative Writing, Film Studies, Marine and Environmental Sciences, Education, and the Allied Health fields. The majority of residents moving to the state were older, in fact, 61% were 55 and older.

The trend, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, shows people leaving bigger cities and choosing locations like Wilmington where they can work remotely and enjoy a higher quality of life.

“Throughout the pandemic in 2020, major metropolitan areas and hotspots, such as New York City (72%), Newark (72%), and Chicago (69%), experienced greater outbound migration, while lower-density cities like Wilmington (79%) and Boise, Idaho (75%) saw high levels of inbound moves,” according to the United Van Lines release.

The top 10 cities by inbound percentage were:

1. Wilmington, NC
2. Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
3. Boise, ID
4. Huntsville, AL
5. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL
6. Knoxville, TN
7. Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, FL
8. Austin-San Marcos, TX
9. Nashville, TN
10. Fort Collins-Loveland, CO