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Where am ILOCATED

Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area

The Winston-Salem, NC metro area is made up of 5 counties in North Carolina: Forsyth, Davidson, Stokes, Davie, and Yadkin, largest first. About 712,206 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 5.4% more than in April 2020.

Davidson County, centralDavie County, centralForsyth County, centralStokes County, centralYadkin County, outlyingWinston-Salem
Central Outlying 5 counties in North Carolina
Population, July 2025
712,206 5.4% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
5: 4 central, 1 outlying
Land area
2,009 sq mi (5,203 km²)
Time zone
Eastern TimeUTC-05:00 in January; UTC-04:00 in July
State
North Carolina
Combined statistical area
Greensboro--Winston-Salem--High Point, NC
CBSA code
49180
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Winston-Salem, NC metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Forsyth CountyCentral401,71856.4%
Davidson CountyCentral180,18225.3%
Stokes CountyCentral46,1266.5%
Davie CountyCentral45,8556.4%
Yadkin CountyOutlying38,3255.4%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central counties, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Winston-Salem252,037 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Greensboro--Winston-Salem--High Point, NC combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 3 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Greensboro-High Point, NC Metro Area805,945 people
  2. Burlington, NC Metro Area186,177 people
  3. Mount Airy, NC Micro Area72,287 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Greensboro-High Point, NC Metro Area24 mi east
  2. Mount Airy, NC Micro Area34 mi northwest
  3. Martinsville, VA Micro Area46 mi northeast
  4. North Wilkesboro, NC Micro Area49 mi west
  5. Albemarle, NC Micro Area52 mi south
  6. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area70 mi southwest

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗