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Desirable, walkable, steady demand.
Wilmington, DE
Is Wilmington a good place to buy rental property in 2026?
Short answer: yes — for balanced buy-and-hold. Wilmington's median cap rate of about 6.8% (Delaware state median) sits near the ~6.5% national median, with typical rent at $1,810–$2,170/mo and Delaware property tax near 0.61%.
Wilmington offers Mid-Atlantic access between Philadelphia and Baltimore with Delaware's business-friendly, no-sales-tax climate and a banking employment base.
Wilmington market snapshot
Balanced marketMid-range cap rates — cash flow and appreciation are both realistically on the table.
Typical cap rate
6.8%
Delaware state median
Typical rent
$1,810–$2,170/mo
HUD FMR · 2–3BR · 2026
Typical price
$220,000–$310,000
est., all-in
Property tax
0.61%
Delaware effective
Rent is HUD Fair Market Rent where available, otherwise a market estimate; price is a market estimate. Cap-rate and tax are the defaults TrueCap applies — enter a specific address for exact, auto-filled numbers.
Sources & methodology. These are screening defaults and market estimates — not an appraisal, and not financial, tax, or legal advice. Verify rents, taxes, insurance, and local landlord/tenant law against the county assessor and your state's landlord-tenant statute before relying on them.
Data: HUD Fair Market Rent · FRED 30-yr mortgage rate · Tax Foundation (property tax) · Updated July 2026
Metro-level estimates — precision is lower at the neighborhood and parcel level; pull a specific address for exact, auto-filled figures. Reviewed by the TrueCap team. See our full methodology.
What rents actually look like in Wilmington
One number never tells the story — HUD publishes ZIP-level Small Area Fair Market Rents for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area, the metro-wide FMR region that includes Wilmington, and the spread across its ZIP codes is where deals are won or lost. Same purchase price, different ZIP, very different rent.
| ZIP code | 2BR rent | 3BR rent |
|---|---|---|
| 08019 | $2,720/mo | $3,260/mo |
| 19355 | $2,450/mo | $2,940/mo |
| 19732 | $2,190/mo | $2,630/mo |
| 19040 | $2,080/mo | $2,490/mo |
| 19403 | $2,000/mo | $2,400/mo |
| 18955 | $1,910/mo | $2,290/mo |
| 19009 | $1,820/mo | $2,180/mo |
| 19899 | $1,780/mo | $2,130/mo |
| 19730 | $1,680/mo | $2,010/mo |
| 19464 | $1,610/mo | $1,930/mo |
| 19076 | $1,510/mo | $1,810/mo |
| 17536 | $1,130/mo | $1,470/mo |
Showing 12 of 473 ZIP codes in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area — the HUD FMR region that includes Wilmington — sampled highest to lowest across the rent range. Source: HUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents. TrueCap auto-fills the exact ZIP-level figure when you enter a Wilmington address.
Why Wilmington works for rental investors
Steady financial-sector and commuter demand with reasonable entry. Balanced cash flow; neighborhood selection matters in the urban core.
Neighborhoods to look at in Wilmington
Riverside / Northeast
Value-add, higher cash flow.
Newark
Nearby; Univ. of Delaware demand, low vacancy.
Neighborhood notes are starting points, not recommendations — always underwrite the specific property.
Run a Wilmington deal in 60 seconds
Paste a Wilmington address into TrueCap and get cap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCR, cash flow, and a 10-year projection — auto-filled with Delaware tax and HUD rent so you start from the right assumptions.
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