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School district · North Carolina · LEAID 3701500

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable North Carolina districts (52,717 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Per-pupil spending, enrollment, and budget for Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools come from the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 finance survey (FY2023).

$50,401
Est. avg teacher salary

Near benchmark

$15,007
Per-pupil spending
52,717
Students enrolled
63rd
Pct. in NC
$50,401

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable North Carolina districts (52,717 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Estimated average teacher salary is $50,401, below the national average of $70,245, serving 52,717 students (NCES CCD F-33, FY2023).

  • Large enrollment scale: Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable North Carolina districts (52,717 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort).
  • 63rd percentile for North Carolina
  • 15th percentile nationally
  • 37% of spending reaches instructional salaries
  • North Carolina ranks #47 of 49 on the salary estimate and #8 of 49 on enrollment in the same reliable-district pool.
  • Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools ranks #43 of 115 North Carolina districts by estimated teacher salary and #46 of 115 by per-pupil spending. Camden County Schools pay #1 at $53,553 is not Hyde County Schools spending #1 at $39,566 per pupil
  • +4.2% estimated-basis panel FY2019→FY2023 (not applied to the FTE figure above)

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Instructional payroll mix vs North Carolina median

Among 116 North Carolina districts that break out F-33 program salary totals, Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools's instructional payroll puts 22.8% into other programs , 3.1 points above the state median of 19.7%. The mix below is the district's own F-33 program split against the in-state median, not a quality score.

Program Winston Salem NC median Gap
Regular program 58.8% 61.8% -3.0 pp
Special education 11.8% 11.1% +0.7 pp
Vocational programs 6.5% 7.1% -0.6 pp
Other programs 22.8% 19.7% +3.1 pp

Shares are of this district's reported F-33 teacher-salary program totals (Z35–Z38), compared with the median share across 116 in-state peers with a positive program sum. NCES LEAID 3701500 · FY2023.

LEAID 3701500 · NCES CCD F-33 FY2023

Winston Salem F-33 compensation desk

SALARY-INLINE Near state avg RANK-ST-MID P63 in state RANK-NAT-LOW P15 national PPE-MID $15K/pupil ENR-MEGA 53K students INSTR-MID 37% instr BASIS-FTE FTE-reported PHOTO-NEAR Near Cleveland FY-2023-HEAVY FY2023 book

FY2023: $50,401 estimated average teacher salary · P63 in North Carolina · P15 nationally · 37% instructional salary share. Nearest salary peer: Cleveland (+$7est. salary).

Salary neighbourhood chart for Winston Salem

Salary neighbourhood · Winston Salem

Winston Salem sits mid-pack among in-state peers; the chart brackets it between the top and bottom pay poles (NCES F-33 FY2023, not a full state reprint).

est. salary
Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey As of FY2023
Appropriate use & corrections
National salary distribution for Winston Salem

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools's estimated salary vs. every US district

NCES F-33 estimate, reliable-salary districts only

$50,401 15th percentile higher than 15% of 10,684 US districts

Show national distribution $30,000–$40,000: 155 US districts (1%). Below this entry. $40,000–$50,000: 1,360 US districts (13%). Below this entry. $50,000–$60,000: 2,382 US districts (22%). This entry sits in this band. $60,000–$70,000: 2,402 US districts (22%). Above this entry. $70,000–$80,000: 1,633 US districts (15%). Above this entry. $80,000–$90,000: 1,097 US districts (10%). Above this entry. $90,000–$100,000: 662 US districts (6%). Above this entry. $100,000–$110,000: 371 US districts (3%). Above this entry. $110,000–$120,000: 249 US districts (2%). Above this entry. $120,000–$130,000: 156 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $130,000–$140,000: 112 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $140,000–$150,000: 57 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $150,000–$160,000: 25 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $160,000–$170,000: 13 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $170,000–$180,000: 10 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $180,000–$190,000: 0 US districts (0%). Above this entry. This district $30,000 $190,000 every reliable-salary US district, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $10K-wide band; taller bars hold more US districts. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey, FY2023 · FY2023

What stands out about Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools

  • With 52,717 students, it is the 75th-largest school district by enrollment among the 13,149 US districts reporting enrollment data.
  • Its total annual revenue of $747M puts it among just 137 US districts operating a budget of this size or larger, out of the 13,149 districts in the NCES CCD F-33 survey, a scale that brings dedicated budget offices, multi-year capital planning, and district-wide procurement contracts that a small district's single-person business office cannot replicate.

Scale composition for Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools enrolls 52,717 students (0.11% of the 46,412,683 students across 13,149 US districts that report enrollment in the NCES CCD F-33 survey). Only 88 districts clear the 50,000-student threshold used here - sparse districts in the 500-5,000 band cannot show a national-share read of this kind because their headcount is too small for the percentage to mean anything. Total annual revenue is $747M, putting it among 137 districts at this budget scale or larger.

Reported teacher FTE is 3,594, about 14.7 students per teacher (mega-cohort median 16.0; denser staffing than 65 of the 87 mega-districts with a usable FTE count, rank 22nd densest) . At this enrollment the ratio is an aggregate across many campuses, so a single-school class-size story is the wrong read - use it to place Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools among other large systems, not against a 1,000-student district whose FTE is a handful of classrooms.

Instructional salaries take 37% of total expenditure on a $791M budget . Large systems carry central offices, transportation, and facilities lines that dilute the classroom share relative to a small district whose budget is almost entirely payroll - comparing that percentage across the enrollment cliff without this scale note misreads both ends.

Nearest mega-district peers by enrollment (same 50k+ cohort):

District Enrollment Est. avg salary Revenue
Garland ISD · Texas 52,767 $58,937 $730M
Cherry Creek School District No. 5 in the county of Arapah · Colorado 52,392 $100,672 $926M
Clayton County · Georgia 52,186 $68,211 $836M
Mobile County · Alabama 51,979 $63,845 $793M
Omaha Public Schools · Nebraska 51,754 $74,787 $932M

This pay stretches further than the headline figure suggests

Nominal district estimate
$50,400.659

The FY2023 salary estimate shown in the hero.

North Carolina price level
94.4 / 100

BEA all-items regional price parity; 100 is the U.S. average.

National-price equivalent
$53,391

+6% versus the nominal figure.

Prices in North Carolina run below the national average, so this salary has roughly the buying power of the national-price equivalent above. A district in a costlier state can advertise a larger nominal salary and still leave a teacher with less.

Regional price parity: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2023 all-items RPP by state. The adjustment applies a statewide index to a district figure, so it captures how North Carolina compares nationally, not how this district compares with others in its own state. Compare every state on this basis.

How this salary figure is calculated
Full NCES reading for Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools

What the Numbers Say About Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools is a large urban school district in North Carolina, serving 52,717 students at an estimated per-pupil spending of $15,007. Estimated average teacher salary, derived from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by teacher FTE, is $50,401, placing the district in the moderately funded tier of NCES F-33 respondents. NCES LEAID 3701500 references the FY2023 Common Core of Data Local Education Agency Finance Survey.

Relative to the North Carolina statewide average of $49,898, teacher pay in Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools runs roughly in line with the state benchmark, a 1.0% gap, and below the national instructional-salary estimate of $70,245 (28.3% differential). Among enrolling districts in North Carolina, it pays more than 63% of them. North Carolina itself ranks #47 of 49 nationally on average teacher compensation, which shapes the funding ceiling districts operate under.

On the budget side, Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools reports $791.1M in total expenditure against $747.1M in revenue, with instructional salaries accounting for 37% of spending, a compensation-to-budget ratio that signals how much of each tax dollar reaches classroom educators. Regular-program teacher salary outlay is $106.5M, special-education teacher pay is $21.4M.

How does Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools compare?

Estimated average teacher salary versus a peer district, the North Carolina average, and the national average. Pick any in-state district to compare.

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools $50,401
Wake County Schools $50,350
North Carolina avg $49,898
National avg $70,245

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools pays +0.1% more than Wake County Schools · per-pupil $15,007 vs $13,702

Derived from NCES F-33 teacher salary expenditure (Z35-Z38) and CCD Staff Universe teacher FTE (FY2023); a small minority use the documented fallback. Unreliable service entities are excluded.

Data-derived comparison paths

Find comparable North Carolina districts

Cleveland County Schools is Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools's nearest match on both pay and per-pupil investment, which is uncommon: the two signals point at different districts for roughly 98% of districts. These are not simply nearby districts: each group is selected from the same NCES FY2023 dataset using a matching salary or per-pupil-investment signal and a comparable enrollment range.

Closest on estimated pay
  1. Cleveland County Schools
  2. Wake County Schools
  3. Union County Public Schools
  4. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
  5. Davidson County Schools
  6. Iredell-Statesville Schools
  7. New Hanover County Schools
  8. Wayne County Public Schools
  9. Cabarrus County Schools
  10. Johnston County Public Schools
  11. Guilford County Schools
Closest on per-pupil investment
  1. Cleveland County Schools
  2. Alamance-Burlington Schools
  3. New Hanover County Schools
  4. Guilford County Schools
  5. Buncombe County Schools
  6. Public Schools of Robeson County
  7. Wake County Schools
  8. Pitt County Schools
  9. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
  10. Cumberland County Schools
  11. Catawba County Schools

Similar estimated teacher pay

Similar per-pupil investment

Out-of-state districts near Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools's enrollment scale

Two out-of-state peer sets for Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools: closest on enrollment (52,717 students here) and closest on estimated average teacher salary ($50,401 here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood.

Similar enrollment

Nearest other districts by NCES student count (floored at ≥200).

Similar estimated salary

Nearest other districts by F-33-derived average teacher salary, distinct from the enrollment row.

Enrollment and salaries from NCES CCD F-33; estimated teacher pay can diverge widely at the same student count because of state funding, cost of living, and local bargaining.

Revenue & Expenditure

$747.1M
Total Revenue
$791.1M
Total Expenditure
$293.7M
Instruction Salaries
37% of total spending

Instructional Salary by Program

$106.5M
Regular Program
$21.4M
Special Education
$11.9M
Vocational
$41.3M
Other Programs

The teacher salaries behind this page's average are the ones NCES reports for 4 programs in Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools: the regular program, special education, vocational programs and other programs. Every program category NCES breaks out separately carries a figure here. Together they are 62% of everything the district spends on instructional salaries; the other 38% pays instructional aides, paraprofessionals, substitutes and other instructional staff who are not counted as teachers here.

North Carolina Teacher Pay Overview

The highest average among comparably sized North Carolina districts belongs to Camden County Schools at $53,553. Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools places 42 of 113 comparably sized districts, squarely in the middle band the state average actually represents. Michigan and South Carolina are the states closest to North Carolina on BEA's price parity, which makes them the fair comparison; against a costlier state this salary goes further than its number suggests.

View all North Carolina districts →

Other North Carolina Districts

Large-district sample from 114 North Carolina peers with reliable NCES data; bar length shows pay magnitude within this slice.

Surry County Schools
$51,122
7,340 students
Orange County Schools
$51,098
7,208 students
Granville County Schools
$49,005
6,748 students
Richmond County Schools
$49,004
6,678 students
Cumberland County Schools
$48,573
49,661 students
Union County Public Schools
$50,588
41,497 students

This is a sample of 6 from 114 North Carolina districts with enrollment and salary data reliable enough to compare in the NCES CCD F-33 survey.

Frequently Asked Questions about Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools
What is the average teacher salary in Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools?

The average teacher salary in Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools is $50,401 (NCES CCD FY2023), from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by the district's reported teacher headcount (NCES CCD Staff Universe Survey).

How does Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools teacher pay compare to the North Carolina average?

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools pays 1.0% more than the North Carolina state average of $49,898. The district's average is $50,401.

How does Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools teacher pay compare to the national average?

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools pays 28.3% below the national average of $70,245. The district average is $50,401.

What is the per-pupil spending in Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools?

Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools spends approximately $15,007 per student annually (NCES FY2023), covering instructional salaries, support services, and administration.

What percentage of Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools's budget goes to teacher salaries?

Instructional salaries account for 37% of Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools's total expenditure of $791.1M (NCES FY2023).

Next read for Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools
Disclaimer & data sources

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainTeacher

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Editorial standards & source notes

According to the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, PlainTeacher's figures are computed directly, no number is typed in by an editor. Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools's salary and finance figures are computed directly from its FY2023 F-33 submission, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Data current as of FY2023.