27105 — Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 27105. Its median home value runs 28% below Winston-Salem as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 18% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity2,882nd of 3,116 ZIP areas measured29
Schools2,797th of 3,047 ZIP areas measured16
Growth1,564th of 3,124 ZIP areas measured51
Housing affordability1,973rd of 3,112 ZIP areas measured62
ClimateTop 19% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured78
Physical resilienceTop 45% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured62
AccessTop 49% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured92
Economic stability2,988th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured18
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable ZIP areas measured: unemployment is 4.2% and the Opportunity signal places 27105 in the bottom 8%. The unemployment rate is published for Winston-Salem, NC, which contains 27105, rather than for 27105 alone.

In the public schools here, 22% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.9 students for every teacher.

1,521 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 2% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Winston-Salem, NC, which contains 27105, rather than for 27105 alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
40,678
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$44,080
Bottom 9% nationally
Density
1,206/sq mi
33.7 sq mi of land
Median age
34.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Winston-Salem
North Carolina
Nearest major airport
GSO
17 mi · Piedmont Triad Intl
Median home value
$168,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Winston-Salem, NC, which contains 27105, is 4.2%, lower than in 58% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Winston-Salem, NC, which contains 27105, fell 2.0% over the past year, to 109,617 employed residents.

Median household income of $44,080 is lower than in 91% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsForsyth County, NC’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$64,95543rd percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftForsyth County, NC’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$68,19848th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,8812024 ACS 5-Year$44,080Bottom 9%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4852024 ACS 5-Year$22,015Bottom 8%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year26.6%Bottom 9%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.9 minTop 34%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.7%Bottom 33%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year74.7%45th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWinston-Salem, NC’s figureJuly 2026109,617Top 29%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Winston-Salem, NC’s figureJuly 2026−3.7%Bottom 8%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Winston-Salem, NC’s figureJuly 2026−2.0%Bottom 20%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceWinston-Salem, NC’s figureJuly 2026114,36471st percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.0%Bottom 31%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageWinston-Salem, NC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$59,130Bottom 19%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageWinston-Salem, NC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$46,380Bottom 16%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year1.9%87th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Winston-Salem, NC’s figureJuly 2026−0.5%Top 25%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateWinston-Salem, NC’s figureJuly 20264.2%Top 42%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.1%36th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202444k33k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $44,080 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Winston-Salem, NC

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses10,180$86,120
Retail Salespersons6,790$30,100
Cashiers6,220$28,130
Cooks, Fast Food6,120$27,280
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand5,490$37,160
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,900$28,640

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Winston-Salem, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

22% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 24% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across 12 of them
Math proficiency
21.6%
Bottom 2% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
24.3%
Bottom 1% in North Carolina
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
North Forsyth Magnet HighWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools1,08415.922%27%
Quality Education Academy · charterQuality Education Academy77622.227%28%
Carver HighWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools72815.222%22%
Mineral Springs MiddleWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools70213.016%22%
Paisley Magnet SchoolWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools55313.238%53%
Mineral Springs ElementaryWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools54511.836%28%
North Hills ElementaryWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools45314.620%18%
Ibraham ElementaryWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools35713.29%14%
Ashley AcademyWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools34811.69%10%
Kimberley Park ElementaryWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools33211.48%8%
Cook Literacy Model SchoolWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools22812.017%12%
Lowrance MiddleWinston Salem / Forsyth County Schools1296.13%22%

99.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against North Carolina’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.6, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area is up 55% over five years, and up 3.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,251 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.74% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,100, some 19% above the $926 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,100 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $44,000 a year, about equal to the median household income here of $44,080.

The typical renter household here spends 36% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $926 a month.

A median home at $168,400 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $57,127, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.6

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
35.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,100
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$926
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$168,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 27105’s median household income of $44,080, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area’s figure202391.6Top 18%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.3%51st percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+54.9%87th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+110.0%72nd percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 42%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year53.6%11th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7802024 ACS 5-Year18,05595th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$970Top 25%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,440Top 19%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,100Top 17%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$392024 ACS 5-Year$926Top 41%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,0192024 ACS 5-Year$168,40034th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$762024 ACS 5-Year$1,25127th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,3932024 ACS 5-Year$57,127Bottom 14%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.74%37th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year35.9%Bottom 16%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±552024 ACS 5-Year4762nd percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%36th percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year15.7%84th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4302024 ACS 5-Year2,89098th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

51/ 100
Ranks 1,564 of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1,521 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Winston-Salem, NC, which contains 27105, rather than for 27105 alone.

At 6.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Winston-Salem, NC, which contains 27105, rather than for 27105 alone.

Units permitted
1,521
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.0
Top 27% nationally
Year over year
−2%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
46%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$64,955
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$68,198
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Guilford County, NC 2,863 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. Davidson County, NC 1,348 people · 7.3% of arrivals
  3. Stokes County, NC 613 people · 3.3% of arrivals
  4. Mecklenburg County, NC 557 people · 3.0% of arrivals
  5. Davie County, NC 474 people · 2.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Guilford County, NC 2,359 people · 13% of departures
  2. Davidson County, NC 1,908 people · 11% of departures
  3. Stokes County, NC 893 people · 5.1% of departures
  4. Davie County, NC 751 people · 4.3% of departures
  5. Mecklenburg County, NC 701 people · 4.0% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Forsyth County, NC. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Winston-Salem, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

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.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WINSTON SALEM RYNLDS AP, 2.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year672024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year472024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
47
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
67
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

62 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 69% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Ice stormModerate
Inland floodingModerate
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LightningModerate
HurricaneModerate
LandslideModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, cold wave, strong wind, hail, heat wave, wildfire, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
9.2
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
19.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.3
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 27105 (Forsyth County) rather than 27105 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Winston-Salem carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Piedmont Triad Intl at 17 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.3%Bottom 20%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle17 miTop 48%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 21%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.3%Bottom 22%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Piedmont Triad IntlGSO17 mi10,001 ft
Charlotte/Douglas IntlCLT77 mi10,000 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU83 mi10,000 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
49
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

27105 vs Winston-Salem

How this ZIP area compares with Winston-Salem as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

27105
Winston-Salem
Median household income: Winston-Salem is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$44,080
vs
$59,268
Per capita income: Winston-Salem is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$22,015
vs
$37,345
Population density
1,206/sq mi
vs
1,885/sq mi
Median home value
$168,400
vs
$233,800
Median gross rent: 27105 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$926
vs
$1,087
Homeownership rate
53.6%
vs
55.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Winston-Salem is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
17.7%
vs
39.5%
Poverty rate: Winston-Salem is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
26.6%
vs
16.9%
Median age
34.6
vs
35.9

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.