The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Winston-Salem, NC
The Winston-Salem metro area, the 88th-largest in the US, is home to 689,800 residents; Winston-Salem itself is the fifth-largest city in North Carolina · Updated November 2026
Is Winston-Salem, NC safe?
Crime in the Winston-Salem area is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than the Winston-Salem area. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B+. The city of Winston-Salem itself grades C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within the Winston-Salem area run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 768 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
38% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than the Winston-Salem area as a whole, and 62% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Winston-Salem area scores 768.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Winston-Salem, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Winston-Salem area, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in the Winston-Salem area
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in the Winston-Salem area runs 30% above the US rate, but car thefts run 26% below it: 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Robberies run high in Ogburn Station & Ledera Crest. In this part of northeast Winston-Salem, they run at more than double the rate in the rest of Winston-Salem.
The safest and most dangerous places in the Winston-Salem area
Low crime is the norm across the Winston-Salem area: 80% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 12% in areas graded D or F. Grades across the Winston-Salem area run from A+ to F; 46% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
80%12%
A or B 80%C 8%D or F 12%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Winston-Salem
1The Village, Country Club & South Peace Haven, westRobberies run at less than half the rate in the rest of Winston-Salem.B+722
2British Woods, Atwood Acres & Cross Winds, southwestRobberies run at less than half the rate in the rest of Winston-Salem.B+716
3Town and Country Estates, Salemtowne & Ridgemere, northwestBurglaries run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Winston-Salem.B622
4Belview & Waughtown, southeastRobberies run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Winston-Salem.B-551
5Konnoak, South View & Washington Park, southClose to the rest of Winston-Salem on most crimes.C+513
6Ardmore, Downtown Winston-Salem & West Salem, centralCar thefts run at about double the rate in the rest of Winston-Salem.C+477
7Wake Forest University, Brookwood & Kimberly Gateway Commons, northBurglaries run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Winston-Salem.D+249
8Ogburn Station & Ledera Crest, northeastAggravated assaults run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Winston-Salem.D222
9East Winston, Winston-Salem State University & Skyland, eastRobberies run at more than double the rate in the rest of Winston-Salem.D-103
Neighborhood areas of the city of Winston-Salem, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Cities and towns in the Winston-Salem metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the area, the King, Pfafftown, and Yadkinville areas have the least crime and the downtown Winston-Salem area the most.
Crime rates and types in the Winston-Salem area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Winston-Salem area has about 48 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% more than the US as a whole and 19% more than North Carolina.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
The largest share of crime reported in the Winston-Salem area is assault, about 44% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in the Winston-Salem area
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across the Winston-Salem area, 2022 to 2024.
In the Winston-Salem area, 68% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 41% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (68%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (53%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (53%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How the Winston-Salem area compares with nearby metro areas
Of the 10 metro areas closest to the Winston-Salem area, 8 have less crime. The Knoxville area and the Raleigh area have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Winston-Salem area. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Winston-Salem area has more crime than 67% of them.
Density, night lighting and empty homes in the Winston-Salem area
One thing sets the Winston-Salem area apart: it has 4% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, yet robbery runs higher here than that would suggest.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 96% of Americans in metro areas
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.59% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 93% of Americans in metro areas
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.8.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 84% of Americans in metro areas
Show all 4
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Winston-Salem area: F (0 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 84% of Americans in metro areas
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs the Winston-Salem area
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs the Winston-Salem area about $1,467 a year per household, 22% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $405 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $1.36 billion a year, or $1,979 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$97 million
$140
Rape
$13 million
$19
Robbery
$10 million
$15
Assault
$157 million
$228
Burglary
$24 million
$35
Theft
$47 million
$69
Vehicle theft
$21 million
$31
Arson
$3.0 million
$4
Vandalism
$33 million
$47
Total
$405 million
$588
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in the Winston-Salem area means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. These figures cover the whole Winston-Salem metro area. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in the Winston-Salem area average a SchoolGrade of C: 52% of students test proficient, against 45% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in the Winston-Salem area on SchoolGrade
