Wilmington, Delaware Taxes: Inside or Outside the City Line? (2026)

Read the full guide: https://www.activeadultsdelaware.com/... All our Delaware retirement and second home guides: https://www.activeadultsdelaware.com/... Two houses can both have a Wilmington mailing address, and only one of them is actually in the City of Wilmington. That one line changes your taxes and your bills. Christine Davis of Active Adults Realty says it up front: she is a real estate agent, not a tax advisor or accountant, and nothing here is financial advice. Take your own numbers to your own tax person. Inside the city, the City of Wilmington earned income tax, the wage tax, is 1.25 percent. It applies to people who live in the city and to income earned inside the city by people who live outside it. Inside the city line you also pay a city property tax on top of the county and school taxes, and the city runs its own water and sewer. Outside the city, in unincorporated New Castle County, there is no city bill, but the county raised its property tax rate 17.2 percent this year and its sewer consumption rate 5 percent, and water may come from a private water company or a well. So neither side is simply cheaper. Put the actual bills side by side, and do not lean on a listing sheet for the tax figure. Recorded October 14, 2026. Budget figures are fiscal year 2027, effective July 1, 2026. CHAPTERS 00:00 Two Wilmington addresses, two sets of bills 00:35 Does the City of Wilmington tax your income? 01:44 What is on the property tax bill inside the city? 02:48 Who sends the water and sewer bill? 03:41 How do you know if a house is inside the city limits? 04:12 Why you would call us Active Adults Realty 1504 Savannah Road, Lewes, DE 19958 302-424-1890 https://www.activeadultsdelaware.com SOURCES City of Wilmington earned income tax (wage tax) of 1.25 percent of gross wages for employees who reside or work in the city: City of Wilmington Wage Tax Information, New Castle County document center, read October 15, 2026. https://www.newcastlede.gov/DocumentC... City of Wilmington fiscal year 2027 budget: no property tax rate increase; water and sewer increases limited to 7 percent; effective July 1, 2026. City of Wilmington, "Mayor Carney Signs FY '27 Budget." https://www.wilmingtonde.gov/Home/Com... . Delaware Public Media, May 30, 2026. https://www.delawarepublic.org/politi... New Castle County fiscal year 2027 budget: 17.2 percent property tax rate increase for unincorporated New Castle County, about $102 a year for the median homeowner on a $378,000 property; 5 percent increase in sewer consumption rates; fiscal year begins July 1, 2026. New Castle County news release, May 26, 2026. https://www.newcastlede.gov/CivicAler... This video is general information about city and county taxes and utility billing in and around Wilmington, Delaware. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Active Adults Realty is not a tax advisor, an accounting firm or a taxing authority. Rates are set by the City of Wilmington, New Castle County, your school district and your water provider, and they change. Verify anything you plan to rely on with your own advisor and the taxing authority. Active Adults Realty is an Equal Housing Opportunity brokerage. We do business in accordance with the Federal Fair Housing Act.