Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Winston-Salem grades D overall, 243rd of 286 graded towns in North Carolina, mostly because of safety. It reports more crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, including 1,910 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. It also has a long history, with 89 places on the National Register. 48% of working residents work locally in Winston-Salem, against 6.8% in North Carolina’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Salem Tavern and Old Salem Historic District.
Where Winston-Salem beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Salem Tavern| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Wake Forest University | 8,108 |
| Forsyth Technical Community College | 5,195 |
| Winston-Salem State University | 3,971 |
Salem Tavern is one of 4 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 89 National Register listings are more than in 99% of North Carolina towns with a listing.
Census counts: 443 in 1870, 249,545 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1769 and 4 maps from 1950 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Winston-Salem is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Winston-Salem. Close and well known come first.
in town Stadium & arenaAllegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium
in town MuseumOld Salem
in town MuseumReynolda House Museum of American Art
20 mi MountainPilot Mountain
20 mi State parkHanging Rock State Parkin town MuseumSoutheastern Center for Contemporary ArtAllegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium: BobHWS, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Old Salem: David Bjorgen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Reynolda House Museum of American Art: Zsrarticle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pilot Mountain: Berean Hunter, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Hanging Rock State Park: Jacalyn Engler from Greensboro, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Winston-Salem, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Winston-Salem.
Winston-Salem draws workers from Greensboro and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports violent crime at about twice the North Carolina rate.
Violent crime runs at 7.4 per 1,000 residents, about twice the North Carolina rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D. At 62.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 78% of North Carolina’s graded towns.
Winston-Salem’s violent crime rate is 7.4 per 1,000 residents. Winston-Salem reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 94% report less. Winston-Salem’s property crime rate is 29.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Winston-Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.4 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 29.8 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools. Three of its 73 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanes Magnet SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 967 | A− |
| R J Reynolds HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,759 | B+ |
| Early College of Forsyth CoTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 306 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
149,400 jobs are based in Winston-Salem, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
18% of Winston-Salem residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Winston-Salem has added 15,534 jobs, to 149,400 in 2023. The average trip to work in Winston-Salem is 22 minutes.
| Winston-Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $59,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 14% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
45 miles of trail in 54 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Reynolds Park, at 207 acres.
| Winston-Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.8% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hanes Park | 1.9 mi | 33 |
| 2. Bethania Wetlands | 1 mi | 47 |
| 3. Kimberley Park | 0.7 mi | 27 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Winston-Salem home is worth about $260,000, about the same as a year ago, 22% below the North Carolina typical home. 56% of households own their home in Winston-Salem.
| Winston-Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 67% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 51% | 49% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 28.8°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 77% of North Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 87.7°.
Winston-Salem has mild winters and warm summers. About 7 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Winston-Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 29°F | 31°F | 22°F |
| July high | 88°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 8,734 U.S. towns with household incomes like Winston-Salem’s, it is healthier than 60%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Winston-Salem beats the North Carolina average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9.
| Winston-Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 36% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Winston-Salem | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7% | 7.9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.6% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the North Carolina average. Winston-Salem has grown 3.1% since 2020, to 257,271 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 40% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across North Carolina.
| Winston-Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 40% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 35.9 years | 40.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 23% | 22% | 22% |
53.4% women, 46.6% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Across North Carolina, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 36.7, men 34.9.
| Winston-Salem | NC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.7% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.3% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.8% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.8% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.9% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.9% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.5% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.9% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.8% | 24.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.1% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.7% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.8% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.7% | 13.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
250 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 36 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 250 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Winston-Salem.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
7 within 15 miles of the center of Winston-Salem
About 9 of every 100 Winston-Salem residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
7 colleges in town.
89 places in Winston-Salem on the National Register of Historic Places.
36 notable people were born in Winston-Salem.
City in North Carolina, United States
Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. It anchors the Winston-Salem metropolitan statistical area, which is located in the west-to-southwestern area of the Piedmont Triad region. The Winston-Salem Metropolitan Area had an estimated population of 712,206 in 2025. The city of Winston-Salem is located in the northwestern Piedmont Triad region, where the city had an estimated 249,545 residents at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 257,271 in 2025, making it the fifth-most-populous city in North Carolina and the 90th-most-populous city in the United States. Winston-Salem was created in 1913 through the consolidation of Salem, …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Winston-Salem.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Kernersville (C−) is closest.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winston-Salem | #243 | D | C | D | C+ | C+ |
| Walkertown | #176 | C− | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| Tobaccoville | #71 | B | B+ | — | C+ | B+ |
| Kernersville | #207 | C− | C− | D | C+ | B |
| Rural Hall | #153 | C | B | — | C+ | B |
| Clemmons | #123 | C+ | C− | — | C+ | A− |
| Midway | #20 | A− | A− | — | B− | B+ |
Walkertown, Tobaccoville, Rural Hall, Clemmons and Midway report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Winston-Salem with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
It grades C+ for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($65,975 across the Winston-Salem, NC metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
36 notable people were born here, including Chris Paul and Pam Grier.
