New Hanover County Relocation Guide

The main areas of New Hanover County include Wilmington, Castle Hayne, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Wrightsville Beach. You can learn more about these areas and what makes each different by clicking on their name on the Our Areas page.

Sometimes listing descriptions will refer to other places, like Murrayville or Masonboro. On this resource page, you will see maps of townships and designated census places. One is a picture, so you can see an overview. The other is an interactive Google Map that will let you pan and see area businesses and amenities. If you are unfamiliar with the zip codes in New Hanover County, you can view a map here.

We also serve Pender County and Brunswick County. Our Areas page has information for those as well. Should you choose a city that is outside of our service area, we will gladly refer you to another trusted agent from within our large network.

All of our area pages have market reports that you can download. These have statistics about the area, including the crime rate in comparison to the national rate. You can also visit the New Hanover County Sheriff`s Office Sheriff to Citizen (S2C) website and the City of Wilmington’s version of that to search within a radius around an address. Once the results populate, you can click a button to view them on Google Maps. You can also view registered sex offenders in North Carolina here.

As mentioned under Crime, all of our area pages have market reports with demographic information displayed in graphs and charts. Data includes population density, total households, occupancy rates, household living costs, households with children, education completed, top employment industries, average income, entertainment costs, utility costs, etc. This is a general overview of the area and when information for a specific community isn’t known, the data for the whole zip code is displayed. You can dig deeper into the stats on the U.S. Census Bureau page for New Hanover County.

Both Zippia and Glass Door list the largest companies in the Wilmington area. Wilmington Chamber of Commerce spreads its net a little further and includes companies from Brunswick County, which is right on the other side of the Cape Fear. It also compares the cost of living to the closest metropolitan areas and gives insight into transportation, arts, and culture. Plus, if you have a business to relocate with your move, they are a good resource for information.

As you know, New Hanover County sits at sea level on the North Carolina coast. This means some properties experience flooding during bad storms. The State of North Carolina has an excellent website for viewing area flood maps. You can search the site by address to see the current flood zone, use their calculator to estimate the cost of repair if the property was to flood, and see an estimate of how much flood insurance would cost. If the link above doesn't load, you can also reach the map here.

We have extensive experience assisting clients throughout the process of buying new construction, including finding the perfect community and lot, choosing features during the design, and navigating walkthroughs for the final build. Below are some resources on our website regarding new construction homes and the process of buying them. If you’re interested in going this route, let us know which communities you like the most, and we can send you site maps, floor plans, pricing, and standard features.

• New Construction Homes for Sale in New Hanover County: Narrow this search to your target price range, size, and location.
• New Construction Communities: View some of the newest and most popular new construction communities in our area. Don’t see what you’re looking for? We may just not have created a page yet. Send us an email or call and we’ll see what information we have and gather up whatever is missing.
• New Construction Blog Posts: Our articles and videos about buying new construction homes in this region.
• New Construction Buyer Guide: Your essential guide to buying a new construction home, including choosing a builder and the hidden costs you may face.
• Why You Need Buyer Representation When Purchasing New Construction: All new communities have on-site agents or a sales team. They will walk you through the available lots, floor plans that fit those lots, and the builder’s contract. They may even be the ones to help you pick out the features and finishes in the design center. However, they are not your agent, and you really should have someone with your best interests at heart representing you. We go into that more in this article.

If you need recommendations for a custom builder, let us know what type of home and service you’re looking for (Craftsman Single-Family, Luxury, full custom blueprints, pre-created floor plans, etc.), and we’ll send you names of reputable builders.

The NCDOT and Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) have numerous public roadway projects that they are working on in New Hanover County and the counties bordering it. Some of these projects pass by current communities, which can lead to increased traffic in the area, as well as noise. There are also a few projects in planning that have not been finalized, and they may require acquisition of private property. You can view projects under construction and in development on the NCDOT and WMPO websites.

If you have school-aged kids, we recommend searching for any property you are interested in on the New Hanover County school district map. This will show you the assigned elementary school, middle school, and high school the property is assigned to. When using this map, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Redistricting happens. There are no guarantees that the schools will remain the same the entire time your child is attending. We hate to say that, especially when some parents work so hard to be in a specific district, but we feel having the right expectations is key to being happy with your home.
2. Not all schools are included. This map shows the assigned traditional public schools; however, there are other schools in the county district. These include year-round public schools and magnet schools. Some of these schools are lottery based and though they aren’t an assigned school, you may still need to live in a certain zone to attend. For example, to attend the year-round school Dr. Hubert Eaton Elementary, you must live on the northern side of Market Street and Eastwood Road or in Wrightsville Beach. Everyone south of that must apply to the other year-round public school, Dr. John Codington Elementary School.

Visit New Hanover County School’s website for new school families. There you can find out about school choices and view the schedule for applying and registering.

We also have numerous private schools in New Hanover County. You can view a list of them here.

The State of North Carolina grades each school (private and public) on academic growth and creates a report card for it. These grades are generated every year after the EOGs (End of Grade tests) are completed. Each report card goes in-depth into school resources, student readiness, and teacher training. They compare the individual school to others in the county and the state. You can view the report cards on NC Report Cards.