Wilmington, NC ranked #7 by CNN


37% Projected gain in home prices (5-year)*

Median home price: 2006 $217,000 2011 $297,000

Population: 2006 325,000 2011 361,000

Per capita income: 2006 $30,500 2011 $38,300

*Metro region statistics

Nestled between the Cape Fear River and North Carolina's Inner Bank beaches, Wilmington has great golf, mild weather, natural beauty, and a relatively cheap cost of living, all of which make it popular with both permanent residents and second-home vacationers.But it hasn't always been this way.

It was an isolated backwater until 1990, when the final 120-mile stretch of I-40 opened. Now the Research Triangle's well-heeled tech workers can be at the beach in three hours.

As the only city of any significant size on the North Carolina coast, Wilmington may be just at the beginning of its boom. It has a seaport, an international airport, and a UNC campus. But it has also maintained its "historic" ambience, bringing it another revenue stream: Hollywood has filmed 180 features here during the past two decades.