VacationSelector
The CN Tower and skyline from the Toronto Islands, Toronto
TorontoThe CN Tower and skyline from the Toronto Islands
The Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington
WilmingtonThe Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Photos: Toronto by Dillan Payne, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Wilmington by Unexpected Snacks, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Toronto 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 Toronto for

  • getting around
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Wilmington for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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. Toronto 34, Wilmington 73: Wilmington leads by 39 points.
Food & drink. Toronto 70, Wilmington 48: Toronto leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Toronto 50, Wilmington 40: Toronto leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Toronto 62, Wilmington 40: Toronto leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Toronto 52, Wilmington 58: Wilmington leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Toronto 50, Wilmington 45: Toronto leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Toronto 74, Wilmington 62: Toronto leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Toronto 65, Wilmington 28: Toronto leads by 37 points.
Shopping & style. Toronto 66, Wilmington 33: Toronto leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Toronto 34, Wilmington 42: Wilmington leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Toronto 72, Wilmington 40: Toronto leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Toronto and Wilmington are level on 33.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Toronto and Wilmington.

Your match

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

Toronto
Best match
55match

Wins on getting around and shopping with your weighting.

Wilmington
45match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Toronto in July

27 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
83 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °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
TorontoWilmington

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Toronto: 1991-2020 normals, Toronto City (1.1 km from centre). Wilmington: 1991-2020 normals, Wilmington / The Palms Mobile Home Park (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureTorontoWilmington
Official languageFrench, English-
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation76 m9 m
Main airportToronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)20 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsWilmington International Airport (ILM)5 km from centre25 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureTorontoWilmington
City population2,794,356115,451
People per km²4,434839
Museums within 10 km322
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
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 Toronto 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.