Leland vs Wilmington: Master-Planned Brunswick County or the Cape Fear City
Leland and Wilmington face each other across the Cape Fear River, and many retirees end up choosing between them after seeing both. Leland is the largest municipality in Brunswick County and the home of master-planned communities such as Brunswick Forest, Compass Pointe and Del Webb Wilmington at Mallory Creek. Wilmington is the port city and county seat of New Hanover County, with a Level II trauma center, an international airport and a downtown.
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Leland vs Wilmington: the short answer
Leland and Wilmington face each other across the Cape Fear River, and many retirees end up choosing between them after seeing both. Leland is the largest municipality in Brunswick County and the home of master-planned communities such as Brunswick Forest, Compass Pointe and Del Webb Wilmington at Mallory Creek. Wilmington is the port city and county seat of New Hanover County, with a Level II trauma center, an international airport and a downtown.
The two sit in different counties with different revaluation years and different tax structures, and the housing options differ in kind: Leland is where developer-built communities dominate, while Wilmington's retirement housing includes resale-only active-adult neighborhoods such as the Del Webb neighborhood at Riverlights.
Rates below come from Brunswick County's and New Hanover County's published tables and the NC Department of Revenue's 2025-26 schedule. They reset every budget year, so confirm a specific parcel's bill with the county. State retirement-income rules are in the NC retirement taxes guide.
Full profiles: Leland (North Carolina) and Wilmington (North Carolina).
Which one fits you
Choose Leland if
- You want a new master-planned community with amenities and a developer-run lifestyle: the Town of Leland describes itself as central to US 74/76, Interstate 40 and Interstate 140, and Del Webb describes 800 new ranch homesites at Mallory Creek.
- You want a lower combined property tax rate than the Wilmington illustration: the county's 2026 rate table lists Leland at 0.25 on top of the county's 0.3420.
- You are comfortable with a fast-growing area: the Town of Leland's profile reports a 2024 count of 33,065, up 44.33% from 22,908 in 2020.
- You want a new-construction market and can confirm whether the community has age restrictions and what its homeowners association covers.
Choose Wilmington if
- You want a city with a Level II trauma center, a cancer center and a women's and children's hospital inside the city limits: Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center is in Wilmington.
- You want a city address near the airport: Wilmington International Airport's home page shows 25 nonstop destinations on seven airlines.
- You prefer a downtown, river-adjacent and resale market, including a 55+ Del Webb neighborhood at Riverlights that is sold out of new homes and therefore offers resale homes.
- You accept a higher combined rate in the city and will check whether a downtown property carries the extra Municipal Service District rate.
Leland and Wilmington side by side
| Dimension | Leland | Wilmington |
|---|---|---|
| Combined county and municipal property tax | Brunswick County's rate for fiscal year 2025 is 0.3420, or 34.20 cents per $100. The county's municipal table lists Leland at 0.27 in 2024, 0.27 in 2025 and 0.25 in 2026. Our arithmetic: on a home assessed at $400,000, the county's 0.3420 plus the 2026 town rate of 0.25 is 0.5920 per $100, or $2,368 a year before any fire or other district charges. The Town of Leland contracts with Brunswick County to send tax bills and collect payment, and not every community with a Leland address is inside the town limits. | New Hanover County's historic rates page lists 2026 rates per $100 of City of Wilmington .3315, a Municipal Service District rate of .0500 for the downtown district, New Hanover County .3020, Fire District .0725 and Debt Services .0040. Our arithmetic: on $400,000, the county's 30.6 cents is $1,224 and the city's .3315 adds $1,326, for $2,550 a year, which is $182 more than the Leland illustration before any Municipal Service District charge. |
| Revaluation calendar | The NC Department of Revenue's 2025-26 table lists Brunswick at .3420, the same as in 2024-25 and 2023-24 and down from .4850 in 2022-23 and 2021-22, with the latest revaluation in 2023 and the next in 2027. Brunswick County maintains a 2027 revaluation section on its tax pages, so the county rate will likely be reset when 2027 values are set. | The state table lists New Hanover at .3060 for 2025-26, down from .4500 in 2024-25, with the latest revaluation in 2025 and the next scheduled for 2029. The county's adopted fiscal year 2026-27 budget maintains the county rate at 30.6 cents. The county page shows Wilmington's city rate at .2825 for 2025 and .4200 for 2024, so the city rate rose in 2026 while the county rate held. Compare current bills on similar houses rather than rates alone. |
| Retirement housing and price signals | Del Webb advertises homes at Del Webb Wilmington at Mallory Creek starting at $379,990 in its Scenic collection, from $471,990 in its Distinctive collection and from $541,990 in its Echelon collection, with floor plans of 1,223 to 2,712 square feet. Directory pages for Brunswick Forest and Compass Pointe list townhomes and single-family homes by multiple builders. These are developer and directory asking prices, not sales data, and age rules and fees belong to each community's governing documents. | The Riverlights active-adult page states that the Del Webb neighborhood is now sold out of new homes, so anyone interested in that neighborhood would be buying a resale home. The same page says Riverlights still offers low-maintenance single-level homes, townhomes, traditional single-family homes, luxury semi-custom homes and rental options, which are not described there as age-restricted. Inside the city, a downtown condominium or townhome may carry the extra Municipal Service District rate. |
| Hospital access | Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center is in Bolivia on Highway 17, part of the county since 1977, with a facility that opened in 2011. It lists 24/7 emergency care, heart and vascular care and maternity. Del Webb's Mallory Creek page lists Waterford Medical Center at 5 miles and the New Hanover Regional Medical Center of Brunswick Forest at 11 miles from that community, which are developer-stated distances. Test the drive from any Leland address. | Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center is in Wilmington. Its page lists cardiac care, orthopedics, oncology, pediatrics, women's health, rehabilitation and trauma care, and states that it is a Level II Trauma Center verified by the American College of Surgeons. Milestones include the Zimmer Cancer Center (opened 2000), the AirLink air ambulance service (introduced 2001) and the Betty H. Cameron Women's & Children's Hospital (opened 2008). Check plan and physician network participation; see the healthcare access guide. |
| Airport, highways and regional access | The Town of Leland's profile describes the town as central to major highways (US 74/76, Interstate 40 and Interstate 140), about 10 minutes from downtown Wilmington, 11 miles from Wilmington International Airport, 90 minutes from Myrtle Beach and about 2 hours from Raleigh. The town's profile also says residents are within an hour of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Brunswick Community College and Cape Fear Community College. | Wilmington International Airport's home page shows a map of 25 nonstop destinations on seven airlines: American, Avelo, Breeze, Delta, JetBlue, Sun Country and United. A Wilmington address sits closer to the airport than a Leland one, at the price of a higher combined tax rate in the city and a denser urban setting. |
| Growth and daily setting | The Town of Leland's profile gives a State Demographer certified 2024 count of 33,065, up 44.33% from 22,908 in 2020, and reports Brunswick County at 169,448 residents as of July 1, 2024, a 24% increase since April 1, 2020. For a retiree, that growth is both the draw and the drawback: new shops, medical offices and amenities arrive with construction and traffic. The town's menu lists a Leland Fall Festival, an In Bloom Festival, a Social Dance Series and an Age-Friendly Plan. | Wilmington is the principal city of the Cape Fear coast on the east side of the river. Riverlights, a community just south of historic downtown, describes trails, kayaking on its lake, live music in Marina Village and fitness classes at the Lakehouse, with only the Del Webb section restricted to 55+. The setting is an established city with a downtown, rather than a corridor of new developer-built communities. |
| Evacuation and insurance | Brunswick County is among the 21 North Carolina counties with Know Your Zone evacuation zones, and its hurricane page says an evacuation order can be issued by the county for unincorporated areas, by a town or city for its own jurisdiction or by the Governor. The Town of Leland's site lists CodeRed alert registration and a Hurricane Expo. The NCIUA procedures document dated July 2019 includes Brunswick in its Coastal Area, and NCIUA says it does not provide flood insurance. | New Hanover County is also one of the 21 counties, and its emergency management page says county shelters are shelters of last resort with very basic provisions and limited meal capability. The NCIUA document names New Hanover among the counties in its Coastal Area, so both cities face the same wind-coverage structure. Get written wind and flood quotes for the specific address, and read the coastal hurricane and flood insurance guide. |
Related guides
Sources and review date
Last reviewed . Facts on this page come from the sources below; where a rule or figure can change, check the linked source before relying on it.
- Community Profile and Economic Data — Town of Leland, NC (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Tax Rates — Brunswick County, NC (accessed 2026-09-30)
- 2025-2026 County Tax Rates — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
- About Brunswick Medical Center — Novant Health (accessed 2026-09-30)
- New Hanover Regional Medical Center — Novant Health (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Hurricane Evacuations — Brunswick County, NC (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Know Your Flood Hazard — Brunswick County, NC (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Know Your Zone — North Carolina Department of Public Safety (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Del Webb Wilmington at Mallory Creek | Leland, North Carolina Homes — Del Webb (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Historic Tax Rates — New Hanover County, NC (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Active Adult 55+ Homes at Riverlights in Wilmington, NC — Riverlights (accessed 2026-09-30)
- About New Hanover Regional Medical Center — Novant Health (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Evacuation & Shelters — New Hanover County, NC (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Wilmington International Airport (ILM) — Wilmington International Airport (accessed 2026-09-30)