AreaProfile

27106Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 27106.

65
Area Score
Top 40% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 50% of 4,073 published ZIP areas55
GrowthTop 47% of 3,947 published ZIP areas52
Housing affordabilityTop 47% of 4,553 published ZIP areas78
ClimateTop 22% of 4,621 published ZIP areas78
Physical resilienceTop 45% of 4,554 published ZIP areas62
Access3168th of 4,623 published ZIP areas89
Economic stability3759th of 4,591 published ZIP areas41
The quick read

Its Area Score of 65 places 27106 in the top 40% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
49,670
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$68,568
Bottom 45% nationally
Density
1,745/sq mi
28.5 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Winston-Salem
North Carolina
Metro area
Winston-Salem, NC
Nearest major airport
GSO
22 mi · Piedmont Triad Intl
Median home value
$313,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 69% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.9% over the past year, to 109,986 employed residents.

50% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 88% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,836$68,568Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,040$46,646Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.8%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.3 minBottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher50.3%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment109,986Top 24%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.5%Bottom 14%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.9%Bottom 49%June 2026
Labor force114,641Top 24%June 2026
Labor force participation59.1%Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$59,130Bottom 15%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,380Bottom 13%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.5%Bottom 18%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 31%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202469k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $68,568 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

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,145 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.6 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,145
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$313,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.57Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate56.0%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±84922,874Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$34$1,145Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,898$313,100Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.0%Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.3%Top 49%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 →
Development Momentum
52/ 100
Top 47% of 3,947 published city 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: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 6.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
1,521
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.0
Top 25% nationally
Year over year
−2%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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, 5.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation43.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing39°F1991-2020 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

62 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and hurricane.

Ice stormModerate
Inland floodingModerate
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LightningModerate
HurricaneModerate
LandslideModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, cold wave, 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. 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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 22 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Piedmont Triad IntlGSO22 mi10,001 ft
Charlotte/Douglas IntlCLT73 mi10,000 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU88 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.

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Area Score
65
Your Score

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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.

27106 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.

27106
Winston-Salem
Median household income
$68,568
vs
$59,268
Per capita income
$46,646
vs
$37,345
Population density
1,745/sq mi
vs
1,885/sq mi
Median home value
$313,100
vs
$233,800
Median gross rent
$1,145
vs
$1,087
Homeownership rate
56.0%
vs
55.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
50.3%
vs
39.5%
Poverty rate
14.8%
vs
17.7%
Median age
38.5
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.