Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. It anchors the Winston-Salem metropolitan statistical area, which is located in the west-to-southwestern area of the Piedmont Triad region. The Winston-Salem Metropolitan Area had an estimated population of 712,206 in 2025. The city of Winston-Salem is located in the northwestern Piedmont Triad region, where the city had an estimated 249,545 residents at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 257,271 in 2025, making it the fifth-most-populous city in North Carolina and the 90th-most-populous city in the United States.