Established in 1913 from two towns originally a mile apart, Winston-Salem, in Forsyth County, is renowned for its expanding arts and tech scene that blends with its historic features, including turn-of-the-century architecture from the city’s earliest era. Winston-Salem is the second-largest pillar of the Piedmont Triad, a metropolitan area between the Atlantic Plain and the Blue Ridge Mountains that includes neighboring Greensboro and High Point.
Called “Winston” by locals, the city’s population has grown by 50,000 in the past 20 years, according to Business North Carolina, and is currently home to more than 250,000 people. “We’re an old tobacco town, but it’s not the primary driver anymore,” says Andy Tennille, a longtime Winston-Salemite and a co-owner of The Ramkat music venue in Industry Hill. “It’s popular because of the livability, the proximity to universities, airports and the mountains.” He adds that the city’s passion for creativity and modernity is why Winston-Salem is known as the City of Arts and Innovation. However, the city has several other monikers, including Twin City and Camel City, which nod to its tobacco roots.
Two family names are synonymous with Winston-Salem: Reynolds and Hanes. The former are Winston-Salem's tobacco industry founders whose descendants went on to create Reynolds Wrap, and the latter are the clothing industry giants who helped establish the city’s textile industry. The influence of both families continues to this day with landmarks, such as the R.J. Reynolds building downtown, which New York’s Empire State Building was famously modeled after. Winston-Salem is also where two major food brands launched: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Texas Pete hot sauce.
Winston-Salem is known for its connection to the Moravian people. In the mid-1700s, the religious immigrants settled in what became known as Salem. A replica of their village anchors Historic Bethabara Park, where reenactors share hands-on demos about blacksmithing, woodworking and candle making. The campus of Salem College features the Home Moravian Church, the Moravian Archives and Salem Moravian Graveyard.
The city’s reinvention from a manufacturing town into a modern, tech-focused community partly stems from its wealth of educational opportunities. It’s home to several universities, including the highly ranked Wake Forest University, which spearheads many of the city’s biotech initiatives. Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools is among the city’s top employers. Healthcare is a top industry, with around 20 medical facilities, including Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the second-best hospital in the Piedmont region. Finance is a growing industry with corporate offices for Wells Fargo Bank and Truist Financial Corporation in the city center.
You can stop by the Old Shell Station museum to check out a little history in Winston-Salem.
One of the oldest churches in Winston-Salem can be found in Old Salem within South Marshall.
Winston-Salem has a few large hospitals that serve the area.
There are many great employers located in the Downtown Winston-Salem area.
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Historic West End properties, downtown condos and suburban neighborhoods
Like many communities in Central North Carolina, home prices in Winston-Salem are trending upward. However, prices are typically lower than in the neighboring Research Triangle of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The average cost for a Winston-Salem home is up 4% from 2023 to 2024. As of December 2024, the median home price is about $288,000, compared to the national median of around $407,000. Properties sell after 34 days on the market on average, close to the national average of 44 days.
Winston-Salem offers a diverse range of architecture. Downtown residents live amid trendy restaurants and shops within a mix of modern condos, historic lofts and apartments. West End, the oldest neighborhood next to downtown, is dubbed “Winston-Salem’s front porch” and was the city’s first “millionaire’s row.” This community on the National Register of Historic Places is known for its Queen Anne, Neoclassical and Craftsman-style homes. Mount Tabor offers a classic suburban feel farther west with brick ranch-style homes, Colonial Revivals and Modern Transitional designs on large lots.
The homes in downtown Winston-Salem are full of charm.
You can find many homes within Bethabara, many of them have nice lawns.
This set of row homes is another example of the options available in Crystal Towers.
There are a variety of home styles within the Crystal Towers neighborhood.
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From Hanes Mall to Industry Hill and the Trade Street Art District
The retail corridor surrounding Hanes Mall is the citywide destination for name-brand shopping. Meanwhile, boutiques, trendy eateries and art galleries fill Downtown Winston-Salem, the city’s walkable hub of innovation, art and nightlife. Many of the area’s most popular bars dot Fourth Street, while breweries are popping up in Industry Hill, where former industrial warehouses are being transformed into small businesses and apartment complexes. While the city is known for its crispy and thin Moravian cookies from the legendary Dewey’s Bakery, its food scene includes four James Beard-nominated restaurants: Mission Pizza, Sweet Potatoes, Heff’s Burger Club and Bobby Boy Bakeshop.
A passion for creativity has long defined this community. Local bands perform at venues like The Ramkat, and thespians take center stage at Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance. Art galleries are clustered along Trade Street, and works from the Colonial era through today adorn the halls of Reynolda House Museum of American Art. “Winston-Salem was the first city in the U.S. to have an arts council,” Tennille says. “It’s also the first city that had a public arts conservatory: UNC School of the Arts. So, it makes sense that we have theater-related businesses around, not only Industry Hill, but the Trade Street Art District because Winston-Salem is very much so an arts town.” The arts also anchor popular city events, from the RiverRun International Film Festival to Gears & Guitars and the Piedmont Craftsmen’s Fair.
Sports have a long-standing presence in the city. The Winston-Salem Dash, a Minor League Baseball team dating to the 1950s, plays downtown at Truist Stadium. The community is abuzz during college football season when Wake Forest’s Demon Deacons play home games at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. The Wake Forest Tennis Center is next store, hosting the Winston-Salem Open each August. The Twin City is also home to a piece of NASCAR history: Bowman Gray Stadium at Winston-Salem State University features the sport’s oldest weekly racetrack.
Sweet Potatoes is a popular destination for soul food in Downtown Winston-Salem.
This Winston Cup car is a must see outside of the museum in Crystal Towers.
Bowman Gray Stadium is the location for local races and WSSU games.
South Marshall residents can enjoy live music and food at East of Texas in South Marshall.
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Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and top ranked universities
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools earns an overall A-minus rating from Niche. Its 81 schools serve more than 50,000 students, making it the fourth-largest district in North Carolina. The district offers choice and magnet schools that feature specialized arts, STEM, International Baccalaureate and dual immersion programs and various career-focused pathways.
One of those schools is the Early College of Forsyth, ranked the third-best magnet school in North Carolina by Niche. With an overall A-plus rating, Early College of Forsyth is highly selective, with a student body of only 260 to foster small group hands-on learning experiences. Its students begin taking college-level courses in their first year and are provided mentorship opportunities. Winston-Salem is also home to several of the state’s top private schools, including Salem Academy and Calvary Day School.
Over 30,000 college students live in Winston-Salem, which hosts six universities, including Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem State University. The private Wake Forest, ranked highly for its school of medicine and overall academic prowess, is the research arm of Winston-Salem’s tech initiatives. U.S. News and World Report lists it as the 46th-best college in the United States. Meanwhile, Winston-Salem State, popular for its registered nursing program, ranks as the 12th-best historically Black university in the nation.
Atkins Academic & Technology High School is rated the #2 best public high school in Forsyth Co.
Wiley Magnet Middle School has received an overall grade of B- from Niche.
Jefferson Elementary School serves students in grades K-5.
The Wake Forest Tennis Center in Winston-Salem is a popular place for tennis enthusiasts.
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Salem Lake, downtown green spaces and outdoor recreation
According to Trust for Public Land, 37% of Winston-Salem residents can reach a park on foot in 10 minutes. Stretching 365 acres, Salem Lake is a year-round spot for walks and bike rides on the Salem Creek Greenway, which loops around the tree-line shore. The boat launch and fishing pier are popular in the summer months. South of that, Quarry Park is filled with trails, has a new playground and overlooks a deep well of water that was initially the site of a quarry.
The half-acre ARTivity on the Green reflects the city’s downtown transformation. Once a parking lot full of weeds, it’s now a green space with sculptures and murals, regularly drawing people in with live music and arts events. Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Wake Forest Biotech Place hug Bailey Park nearby in the Innovation Quarter. This small park is a lunchtime retreat often hosting midday concerts and yoga sessions for residents, students and workers. The district, founded in 2015 as a mixed-use space where employers, education and research institutions and residents can flourish together, is now in phase two of its development. New clinical, office and lab spaces and 15 more acres of green space are under construction.
Outside the city center, parks range from small neighborhood green spaces to landmark sites, such as Historic Bethabara Park, which features a recreated Moravian village to educate visitors about Winston-Salem’s beginnings. Nearby, the manicured Reynolda Gardens attracts nature lovers for its spring blooms and peaceful atmosphere. Golf courses dot the area, including the private, 18-hole Donald Ross-designed course at Forsyth Country Club and the public 18-hole course at Winston Lake Park, a historic course built for Black citizens in the 1950s.
Winston-Salemites experience four distinct seasons, with mild winters and hot and humid summers. As a community on the east coast, hurricanes and tropical storms can hit Winston-Salem, but there is low risk. Only about 30 hurricanes have impacted the city since 1930.
Wise Man Brewing is known for having fun events that you can participate in like Zumba classes.
You can get out to the range for practice at Reynolds Park Golf Course in Winston-Salem.
The walking trails at Salem Lake Park in Winston-Salem are great for people and dogs.
You can enjoy boating on Salem Lake, less than 5 miles from the Easton neighborhood.
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Crime trends and "Get Connected Winston-Salem"
Data from the Winston-Salem Police Department released in September 2024 indicates a 15% decrease in overall crime from 2022 to 2023. However, FBI statistics reveal that violent crime has surged in the area by 179% over the past decade, while property crime has declined by 28%. According to the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer, Winston-Salem’s reported property and violent crime rates exceed national and state figures.
The police department’s crime map highlights that incidents involving weapons are more frequent in the city’s east side, whereas the western region of Winston-Salem reports fewer crimes overall. In 2023, the city launched the “Get Connected Winston-Salem” initiative, encouraging local businesses to voluntarily share their camera feeds with law enforcement. This collaborative effort allows the Winston-Salem Police Department to detect, solve and prevent crime more effectively by linking camera footage across the city.
Commuting around central North Carolina
Several major highways meet in Winston-Salem for commutes around the Piedmont Triad. U.S. Routes 421 and 52 intersect southeast of Downtown. Route 421 heads west into the mountains and east into Kernersville, while Route 52 goes north into Virginia. Interstate 40, which connects the Carolina coast to Tennessee, links up with Interstate 285 on the city’s south side. I-40 is used to reach Greensboro 30 miles east, while I-285 leads to Charlotte, nearly 80 miles south. Interstate 74, the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway, is partially completed. It will eventually loop around the northern half of the city. Construction is expected to last well into the 2030s.
The Winston-Salem Transit Authority provides fixed and paratransit bus services to employers, entertainment venues and amenities around town. Piedmont Triad International Airport is a 23-mile drive from the city. With major airlines like America, Delta and United, this airport is the busiest in North Carolina, with approximately 280 takeoffs and landings daily. Though it doesn’t offer nonstop flights, it provides connecting flights to airports that do.
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