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
How common is violent crime in the Winston-Salem area?
Violent crime in the Winston-Salem area runs higher than in most US neighborhoods: a B+, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 70% of Americans live. Assaults make up 96% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. The city of Winston-Salem itself grades C for violent crime.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 745 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
30% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than the Winston-Salem area as a whole, and 70% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. The Winston-Salem area scores 745.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid 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 about violent crime in the Winston-Salem area
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Violent crime in the Winston-Salem area runs 66% above the US rate, but robberies run 23% below it: 0.48 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Simple assault at about double the US rate. The Winston-Salem area has 17.9 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in the Winston-Salem area
Low violent crime is the norm across the Winston-Salem area: 78% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 14% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across the Winston-Salem area run from A+ to F.
78%14%
A or B 78%C 8%D or F 14%
Share of residents, by the violent crime 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+717
2British Woods, Atwood Acres & Cross Winds, southwestRobberies run at less than half the rate in the rest of Winston-Salem.B+700
3Town and Country Estates, Salemtowne & Ridgemere, northwestAggravated assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Winston-Salem.B-578
4Ardmore, Downtown Winston-Salem & West Salem, centralRobberies run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Winston-Salem.C+490
5Belview & Waughtown, southeastRobberies run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Winston-Salem.C+471
6Konnoak, South View & Washington Park, southClose to the rest of Winston-Salem on most crimes.C455
7Wake Forest University, Brookwood & Kimberly Gateway Commons, northAggravated assaults run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Winston-Salem.D-106
8Ogburn Station & Ledera Crest, northeastRobberies run at more than double the rate in the rest of Winston-Salem.F25
9East Winston, Winston-Salem State University & Skyland, eastRobberies run at more than double the rate in the rest of Winston-Salem.F0
Neighborhood areas of the city of Winston-Salem, ranked by violent crime 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 violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Violent crime rates and types in the Winston-Salem area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Winston-Salem area has about 22 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 66% more than the US as a whole and 55% more than North Carolina.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in the Winston-Salem area, about 96% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent 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, 53% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 40% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
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.
Violent crime in the Winston-Salem area and nearby metro areas
Of the 10 metro areas closest to the Winston-Salem area, 9 have less violent 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 violent crime 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 violent crime than 67% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one 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, 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.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 96% of Americans in metro areas
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 violent crime costs the Winston-Salem area
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs the Winston-Salem area about $1.23 billion a year, or $1,789 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $277 million, or $402 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 78% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$97 million
$140
Rape
$13 million
$19
Robbery
$10 million
$15
Assault
$157 million
$228
Total
$277 million
$402
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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.
