Winston-Salem, NC
Metro Area Profile
689,766 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Winston-Salem, NC metropolitan area.
Unemployment is 3.6% and median household income $65,975, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published metro profiles.
4,629 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 3% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.
Rent takes 18% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.5 times that income.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 3.6% is lower than 80% of the 379 measured US metros.
Employment fell 1.0% over the past year, to 306,137 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$1,052 | $65,975 | Bottom 47% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$484 | $37,543 | Top 39% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 13.5% | Bottom 49% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 25.6 min | Top 33% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 30.8% | Top 31% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 306,137 | Top 24% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | -2.4% | Bottom 15% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -1.0% | Bottom 41% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 317,699 | Top 24% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 60.7% | Top 48% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $59,130 | Bottom 39% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $46,380 | Bottom 34% | 2025 OEWS |
| Metro employment | 271,980 | Top 24% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | -0.5% | Bottom 20% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.6% | Bottom 20% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurses | 10,180 | $86,120 |
| Retail Salespersons | 6,790 | $30,100 |
| Cashiers | 6,220 | $28,130 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | 6,120 | $27,280 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 5,490 | $37,160 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 4,900 | $28,640 |
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $1,016 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 3.5 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 3.54 | Top 37% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 69.2% | Bottom 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±282 | 310,088 | Top 9% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$18 | $1,016 | Top 43% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$2,675 | $233,300 | Top 42% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 18.5% | Top 46% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 9.2% | Bottom 33% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has grown 4% since 2020, reaching 705,187 in 2024.
New construction is predominantly single-family: only 7% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.
At 6.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 31°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 43.2 inches.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 43.2" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 31°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 88°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 39°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and hurricane.
Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, strong wind, hail, heat wave, wildfire.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Crime
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
- Taxes
- No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Full cost of living
- No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.
Access
3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 23 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piedmont Triad Intl | GSO | 23 mi | 10,001 ft |
| Charlotte/Douglas Intl | CLT | 69 mi | 10,000 ft |
| Raleigh-Durham Intl | RDU | 88 mi | 10,000 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.