Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and 90th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 249,545 at the 2020 census. The Winston-Salem metropolitan area has an estimated 705,000 residents, making it the fourth-largest metropolitan area based in North Carolina. It is the second-most-populous city in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region, home to about 1.7 million residents.