Work & commute · Winston-Salem

Work & commute in Winston-Salem, NC

48% of Winston-Salem’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Greensboro (7%), Charlotte (5%) and High Point (3%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

48%

46,652 of 97,621 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 50,969 Winston-Salem residents head out of town to work, 46,652 work right here, and 102,748 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Winston-Salem.

50,969live here, work elsewhere

46,652live and work here

102,748work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Winston-Salem goes to work

Winston-Salem (in town)right here

48%46,652

Greensboro24.4 mi away

7%7,021

Charlotte69.6 mi away

5%5,228

High Point16.9 mi away

3%3,414

Kernersville10 mi away

3%2,747

Raleigh92.5 mi away

3%2,634

Clemmons8.5 mi away

2%1,741

Durham76.6 mi away

2%1,536

Cary83.4 mi away

1%686

Thomasville18.3 mi away

1%610

Everywhere elseother towns and states

26%25,352

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Winston-Salem commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

53%

17%

23%

53%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Winston-Salem is a job hub

1.53jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Winston-Salem are

149,400 jobs are based in Winston-Salem. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Winston-Salem’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Winston-Salem

149,400 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Winston-Salem residents hold

97,621 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+12%

Jobs based in Winston-Salem, 2013 → 2023: 133,866 → 149,400. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.