Winston-Salem

City in Forsyth County

Typical prices: $175k – $1M+
Best for: Historic in-town neighborhoods, arts and medicine careers, lower property taxes
Commute: 30 min to Greensboro · 25 min to PTI Airport · 25 min to High Point

About the neighborhood

Old Salem, Wake Forest, the Innovation Quarter and stone-wall neighborhoods under old oaks

Winston-Salem is two towns joined in 1913: Salem, the Moravian settlement founded in 1766 whose restored village is now Old Salem, and Winston, the tobacco and textile city that R.J. Reynolds and the Hanes family built. Today it is the Triad's arts-and-medicine city — Wake Forest University and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, the UNC School of the Arts, Winston-Salem State, Salem College and the Innovation Quarter, a research district in the old Reynolds tobacco buildings downtown.

Housing runs from the historic in-town neighborhoods — Buena Vista next to Reynolda, the West End, Ardmore near the medical center, Washington Park and the Old Salem area — to postwar suburbs like Sherwood Forest and newer communities on the northwest side such as Brookberry Farm. Per Redfin, the city's median sale price was about $288,000 for the three months ending August 2026, and a combined property tax rate of about $1.14 per $100 (FY2026–27, on 2025 values) makes it noticeably cheaper to own than Greensboro at the same price.

Winston-Salem on the map

Town limits, roads, parks and landmarks. Click the map to enable scroll zoom.

Highlights

This area is great for

Historic homes

This area is great for

Dining

This area is great for

Walkable

Characteristics

Transportation

Easy by Triad standards: I-40 and the Salem Parkway (old Business 40) cross the city east–west, US-52 runs north toward Mount Airy, and US-421 heads west toward Yadkinville and the mountains. Greensboro is about 30 minutes east on I-40 and PTI Airport roughly 25. WSTA buses serve the city, PART Express connects to Greensboro and High Point, and the downtown Strollway and greenways make the core walkable.

Services

Hanes Mall and the Stratford Road and Hanes Mall Boulevard corridor are the main shopping area; Thruway and Reynolda Village cover the in-town side. Two major hospital systems — Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center — are both in the city. Downtown has the Fourth Street restaurant row, the Arts District on Trade Street, the Stevens Center and Truist Stadium; Reynolda Gardens, Hanes Park, Salem Lake and the Muddy Creek greenways cover the outdoors.

Character

A bit slower-paced and more settled than Greensboro, with the arts woven through daily life — UNCSA performances, the National Black Theatre Festival and a gallery scene — and a professional workforce built around the hospitals and universities. The in-town neighborhoods have stone walls, old oaks and porches; the suburbs to the north and west are quieter and more spread out.