Best PlacesForsyth County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Forsyth County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Forsyth County ranks 721st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low disaster risk and state finances. The weaker spots are noise, an overheated housing market, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Forsyth County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Forsyth County
The parts of Forsyth County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Lewisville
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Clemmons
Crime runs lower and fewer homes sit empty.
Pfafftown & Tobaccoville
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Walkertown & Belews Creek
Fewer households have young kids and schools score lower.
Kernersville
Scores close to Walkertown & Belews Creek, except that biking is better here.
Winston-Salem
Fewer residents vote and prices have run up more.
Rural Hall
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
Forsyth County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Forsyth County's strengths and weaknesses
Forsyth County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low disaster risk, state finances, and fast internet carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, an overheated housing market, and the weather hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Forsyth County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- School gradeB, better than 87% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of counties
Where Forsyth County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 13% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Forsyth County
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forsyth County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,592, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Forsyth County's effective rate of 0.79%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Forsyth County
Forsyth County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Forsyth County.
Who works in Forsyth County, and how
Work in Forsyth County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Forsyth County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Forsyth County.
Is Forsyth County growing, and who is moving in?
Forsyth County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Greensboro, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Forsyth County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Forsyth County, month by month
Forsyth County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Forsyth County
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Forsyth County
Schools across Forsyth County average a B, better than 87% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sherwood Forest ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- Southwest ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Whitaker ElementaryA+ · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Meadowlark MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Hanes Magnet SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson MiddleA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College Of Forsyth CoA+ · 91% proficient
- Atkins Academic & Tech HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Middle College Of Forsyth CntyA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forsyth County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forsyth County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Forsyth County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Forsyth County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Forsyth County
Is Forsyth County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forsyth County ranks 721st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state finances, and fast internet, and lowest on noise and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forsyth County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $268,846. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $74,592 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Forsyth County safe?
Forsyth County is safer than 27% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $517 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Forsyth County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 29. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Forsyth County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lewisville, Clemmons, and Pfafftown & Tobaccoville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Forsyth County good for families?
Schools beat 87% of counties, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $838 a month.
Is Forsyth County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Forsyth County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forsyth County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forsyth County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Forsyth County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forsyth County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forsyth County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forsyth County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forsyth County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forsyth County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.