Forest OaksNC
A town of 4,293.
What should you know before moving to Forest Oaks?
0% of its land is conserved. Overall it grades B+, 41st among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. It is healthier than 90% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $108K. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Forest Oaks, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 74% of U.S. towns.
97% of working residents leave Forest Oaks for work
Where Forest Oaks’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Forest Oaks grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Forest Oaks is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Forest Oaks: who provides what
Forest Oaks is unincorporated, so Guilford County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Forest Oaks.
Forest Oaks earns an A for health
Its widest gap with North Carolina is food insecurity: 7.8% of its 3,335 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.2% statewide.
14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Forest Oaks. Forest Oaks beats the North Carolina average on 16 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 9.3% of adults smoke cigarettes in Forest Oaks.
| Forest Oaks | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.3% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Forest Oaks | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.8% | 15.2% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.4% | 13.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Forest Oaks’ schools rank ahead of 53% of North Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Guilford County Schools. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Southeast Guilford High, with 1,209 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Guilford MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 826 | C+ |
| Southeast Guilford HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,209 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Forest Oaks has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Most working residents leave Forest Oaks for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Forest Oaks has lost 61 jobs, to 552 in 2023. The average trip to work in Forest Oaks is 22 minutes.
| Forest Oaks | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $108,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 6.8% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Forest Oaks, expect four seasons and hot summers
Forest Oaks has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 30° and about 7 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Moderate risk in Forest Oaks, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 54% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A home in Forest Oaks sells for about $430K at the median
91% of Forest Oaks households own their home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
North Carolina Zoo and 26 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Forest Oaks. Close and well known come first.
25 mi Zoo & aquariumNorth Carolina Zoo700K visitors a year
37 mi Stadium & arenaKenan Memorial Stadium
32 mi Stadium & arenaAllegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium
31 mi MuseumOld Salem7 mi MuseumPalmer Memorial Institute
38 mi Stadium & arenaDean Smith CenterPhoto credits
North Carolina Zoo: Diane Villa, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kenan Memorial Stadium: Yeungb, CC BY 3.0 · Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium: BobHWS, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Old Salem: David Bjorgen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dean Smith Center: No machine-readable author provided. Snargle~commonswiki assumed (based on copyr, Public domain
Everything we know about Forest Oaks
Colleges nearby
9 within 15 miles of the center of Forest Oaks
About 8 of every 100 Forest Oaks residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Forest Oaks’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Forest Oaks.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Oaks | #41 | B+ | B− | — | B− | A |
| Greensboro | #215 | D | C− | D− | B− | B− |
Forest Oaks reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Forest Oaks with a neighbor →
Questions about Forest Oaks
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Forest Oaks, NC a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Forest Oaks grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #41 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A for health and B− for schools.
Is Forest Oaks, NC expensive?
The typical home is worth about $349,000, 5% above the North Carolina typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.