As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Winston-Salem ranks the 91st largest city in the nation.
In Winston-Salem, $13.84 an hour buys an early educator 67% of a single-adult living wage — better than what the same nominal wage covers in Raleigh, Durham, or Charlotte. The arithmetic is mostly cost-of-living: Forsyth County rent runs $1,033 a month, against $1,468 in Wake. Infant center care at $12,179 a year is the lowest in any of North Carolina's nine scored cities, $5,000 below the national median. Even so, Forsyth is a childcare desert at 26.7 licensed slots per 100 working-parent kids, and the city's $57,673 median household income leaves little buffer for the 47% of families with children headed by a single parent. Winston-Salem ranks second of nine in NC — by Southern standards a relative success, by national standards 173rd of 250.
Key highlights & actionable takeaways
- Score 45 (Strained), ranked 173 of 250 — second among NC's nine cities, lifted by an 81/100 workforce score.
- Forsyth County is a childcare desert at 26.7 licensed slots per 100 working-parent kids; infant care $12,179/year, lowest in this NC cluster.
- Childcare workers earn $13.84/hour, 67% of the local living wage; single-parent share 46.9%, well above the 31.8% national average.
Actionable takeaways
- Same wage, different city, better life. $13.84/hour reaches 67% of a Forsyth County living wage vs. 52.7% in Wake — Winston-Salem's #2-in-NC ranking is mostly about $1,033 rent, not pay.
- Lowest infant tuition in NC, still desert-grade supply. $12,179/year is $5,000 below the national median, but 26.7 slots per 100 kids replicates the statewide gap; cost-of-living advantage doesn't unlock seats that don't exist.
- Single-parent share is the strain driver. 46.9% of families with kids are single-parent, against a $57,673 median income; even Winston-Salem's affordable tuition is heavy on a single check.
Affordability — 50/100
A year of infant center care in Forsyth County costs about $12,179 — well below the national median of $17,163 and the lowest in this North Carolina cluster. For a household earning the city's $57,673 median income, that absorbs 21.1% of pre-tax income — three times the federal 7%-affordable benchmark, but a meaningfully different reality from the 24%+ burdens of Durham or the 35%+ burden in Baltimore. The childcare-to-rent ratio is 0.98, meaning a month of infant tuition runs essentially equal to a month's rent in a city where rent is $1,033. A typical Winston-Salem family with one infant in center care pays about $5,000 less per year than the national median family — a real cost-of-living advantage.
Supply — 37/100
Winston-Salem is a childcare desert. Forsyth County reports about 7,401 licensed slots against roughly 27,744 kids under 5 with working parents — 26.7 slots per 100, below the 30-per-100 desert threshold and well short of the 73-per-100 national figure. The county counts 96 licensed establishments serving 14,713 city children under 5 — 4.3 establishments per 1,000, in line with the national 4.2. The capacity gap is consistent with the broader North Carolina pattern: licensed supply has not kept pace with the working-parent population. Statewide, North Carolina reports a 55.9% childcare gap.
Workforce — 81/100
This is Winston-Salem's signature dimension and the reason it ranks second in the state. Median childcare worker pay in Forsyth County is $13.84 an hour — about $28,780 annually — or 67.0% of the $20.66 local living wage for a single adult. That's well above the 62.6% national benchmark and the strongest workforce score in this NC cluster. The figure reflects the city's relatively low overall cost of living (median rent $1,033 vs. $1,468 in Raleigh) more than any wage premium — but the practical effect is the same: the gap between what an early educator earns and what they need to live is narrower here than in most of the state.
Family strain — 31/100
About 67.9% of Winston-Salem mothers with children under 6 are in the labor force — essentially at the 68.2% national rate. Single-parent households make up 46.9% of families with children, well above the 31.8% national share and one of the higher figures in this cluster. The city's $57,673 median household income runs nearly $21,000 below the national $78,538, which is the principal driver of family strain here: even with below-national childcare prices, the income margin for a single-parent household is thin.
Policy support — 24/100
North Carolina enrolls 22% of 4-year-olds in state pre-K and spends $7,117 per enrolled child, meeting 9 of 10 NIEER quality benchmarks — strong quality, narrow reach. CCDF subsidy reach is 13.4%. The state has no paid family leave program, so Winston-Salem parents rely on the unpaid 12-week federal FMLA floor unless their employer fills the gap — and in a city anchored by healthcare (Wake Forest Baptist) and finance (Truist headquarters), employer policy varies sharply by sector. Policy is measured at the state level.
In-home care in Winston-Salem
In-home care in Winston-Salem typically reflects metro-wide nanny market patterns, with full-time live-out rates in line with the broader Triad / North Carolina market — generally lower than in Charlotte or the Triangle. Demand concentrates around Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center clinical staff, the city's higher-education and finance professionals, and dual-earner households whose schedules don't fit a center day. Nanny shares between two families are a recurring workaround for the metro's chronic infant-slot shortage, and au pair placements through the State Department's J-1 program serve households needing extended weekly coverage.
Methodology: The the score is a 0-100 composite score across five dimensions: Affordability (30 pts), Supply (25 pts), Workforce Health (15 pts), Family Strain (15 pts), and Policy Support (15 pts). City-level prices and supply use the city's primary containing county. Policy Support is measured at the state level. Full methodology and data sources: beverly.io/research/methodology.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates; U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS (May 2024) and QCEW; Buffett Early Childhood Institute / Bipartisan Policy Center / Child Care Aware childcaregap.org (Sept 2025); NIEER State of Preschool Yearbook 2024; HHS ACF CCDF FY2023; National Partnership for Women & Families (March 2026).