Winston-Salem migration, mapped
In 2022–23, 27,061 people moved into the Winston-Salem metro and 22,343 moved out, a net of +4,718. Yellow arcs are people arriving, blue arcs are people leaving. Hover a dot to see the corridor, or click through to compare.
The map couldn’t load. The numbers below still tell the story.
† IRS methodology change in this year’s files (see methodology)
What the flows say
- Biggest published corridors: Greensboro, NC leads both directions, with 6,159 people in and 5,264 out in 2022–23. The listed corridors cover about 57–60% of all flows; the totals count everyone.
- Trend: net inflow has held roughly steady over the last three years, from +4,677 in 2020–21 to +4,718 in 2022–23†.
Population · 2025
712,206
▲ 1.0% year over year · growing
Peak population
712,206
highest in the series shown (since 2000)
Why the population is changing
- Growth driver: domestic migration added more people than anything else: +5,477 in 2025, ahead of births minus deaths (−558) and international migration (+1,946).
- Peak population: the 2025 estimate of 712,206 is the highest on record, in data going back to 2000.
Net income flow · 2022–23
+$146M
▲ $970M arrived · $825M left
Avg household income · movers
$63k in · $62k out
similar incomes both directions
Winston-Salem wealth migration
- Money moved: households moving into the Winston-Salem metro in 2022–23 reported $970M in income (AGI). Households leaving took $825M with them, a net gain of $146M.
- Income gap: the average household moving in reported $63k of income, vs $62k for leavers. Arriving and leaving households report similar incomes.
About the data
Corridors are IRS county-to-county migration flows added up into metro areas (2023 Census metro definitions; exemptions ≈ people). "Rest of" entries cover a state's counties outside any featured metro. The IRS hides corridors with fewer than 20 returns, so the lists here cover about 57% of inbound and 60% of outbound movers in 2022–23. The in, out, and net totals count everyone. Income figures are the total income (AGI) movers reported, from the complete county totals. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation, and household averages divide by the number of returns. Population figures are Census Bureau estimates; the peak covers records since 2000. Years marked † had a change in how the IRS built the files. Full details on the methodology page.
Download this data (CSV), free to use with attribution.
← All North Carolina migration · other North Carolina metros
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