VacationSelector
The old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds, Sapporo
SapporoThe old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds
The Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington
WilmingtonThe Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Photos: Sapporo by Feri88, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Wilmington by Unexpected Snacks, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Sapporo or Wilmington?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Sapporo for

  • getting around
  • wellness
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Sapporo’s own page.

Choose Wilmington for

  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Wilmington’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Sapporo 28, Wilmington 73: Wilmington leads by 45 points.
Food & drink. Sapporo 80, Wilmington 48: Sapporo leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Sapporo and Wilmington are level on 40.
Nightlife. Sapporo 62, Wilmington 40: Sapporo leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Sapporo 86, Wilmington 58: Sapporo leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Sapporo 64, Wilmington 45: Sapporo leads by 19 points.
Good for families. Sapporo 72, Wilmington 62: Sapporo leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Sapporo 80, Wilmington 28: Sapporo leads by 52 points.
Shopping & style. Sapporo 58, Wilmington 33: Sapporo leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Sapporo 60, Wilmington 42: Sapporo leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Sapporo 44, Wilmington 40: Sapporo leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Sapporo 80, Wilmington 33: Sapporo leads by 47 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Sapporo and Wilmington.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Sapporo
Best match
63match

Wins on getting around and wellness with your weighting.

Wilmington
45match

Wins on beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Sapporo in July

25 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
91 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
19 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Wilmington in July

32 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
174 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
SapporoWilmington

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Sapporo: 1991-2020 normals, Sapporo (2.2 km from centre). Wilmington: 1991-2020 normals, Wilmington / The Palms Mobile Home Park (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSapporoWilmington
Official languageJapanese-
CurrencyYen (JPY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119911
Elevation5 m9 m
Main airportNew Chitose Airport (CTS)42 km from centre42 non-stop destinationsWilmington International Airport (ILM)5 km from centre25 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureSapporoWilmington
City population1,959,313115,451
People per km²1,747839
Museums within 10 km332
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month6 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Sapporo or Wilmington somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.