Greensboro vs Winston-Salem: Guilford County Rates or Forsyth County Hospitals
Greensboro and Winston-Salem are the two large Piedmont Triad cities, about a county apart, and both are inland, so neither raises the coastal wind and flood questions that dominate the Carolina shore. The difference is the county line. Greensboro is the Guilford County seat, where the county has just been through a January 1, 2026 reappraisal and now bills a combined county and city rate of $1.5880 per $100. Winston-Salem is the Forsyth County seat, where the 2025 reappraisal is already behind it, the combined rate is $1.143 per $100 and the county's sales tax is a quarter point higher.
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Greensboro vs Winston-Salem: the short answer
Greensboro and Winston-Salem are the two large Piedmont Triad cities, about a county apart, and both are inland, so neither raises the coastal wind and flood questions that dominate the Carolina shore. The difference is the county line. Greensboro is the Guilford County seat, where the county has just been through a January 1, 2026 reappraisal and now bills a combined county and city rate of $1.5880 per $100. Winston-Salem is the Forsyth County seat, where the 2025 reappraisal is already behind it, the combined rate is $1.143 per $100 and the county's sales tax is a quarter point higher.
Those money differences sit beside a difference in what each city is known for in public sources. Greensboro's evidence is about transportation and recreation: the region's commercial airport, an Amtrak depot, more than 100 miles of trails and a state university. Winston-Salem's is about medicine and parks: a 933-bed academic medical center, a second large hospital system, the 1,100-acre Tanglewood Park and a senior games program for residents 50 and older. The dimensions below are meant to be checked against a specific address, because per-$100 rates in two counties cannot be compared without also comparing assessed values. State income tax treatment is in the NC retirement taxes guide.
Full profiles: Greensboro (North Carolina) and Winston-Salem (North Carolina).
Which one fits you
Choose Greensboro if
- You want the commercial airport and Amtrak on your side of the Triad: Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) is listed at 1000 Ted Johnson Parkway with service from Allegiant, American, Delta and United, and Amtrak serves the J. Douglas Galyon Depot in downtown Greensboro.
- You want a long greenway network close to home, including the 7.5-mile Atlantic and Yadkin Greenway, the nearly 17-mile Bicentennial Greenway and the 4-mile Downtown Greenway, in a city the visitors bureau credits with more than 100 miles of trails.
- You prefer the lower sales tax: North Carolina lists Guilford County at 6.75 percent against 7 percent in Forsyth, and you will watch the November 3, 2026 ballot question that could raise it.
- You accept a higher combined property rate and a fresh 2026 valuation in exchange for those features, and you will use the county's comparison tools to check the assessment before an offer.
Choose Winston-Salem if
- You want a lower combined property tax rate on paper: the county's table lists $1.143 per $100 inside Winston-Salem against $1.5880 inside Greensboro, and your own comparison should use the assessment, not the rate alone.
- You want hospital choice inside the city: Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist's 933-bed medical center is in Winston-Salem, and Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center describes itself as a regional referral center for patients from more than 22 counties.
- You want a county park system and city programs for older adults, including Tanglewood Park, Horizons Park and the Piedmont Plus Senior Games for residents aged 50 and up.
- You prefer a valuation reset that has already happened, with Forsyth's last revaluation in 2025 and the next scheduled for 2029, rather than one that has just been applied.
Greensboro and Winston-Salem side by side
| Dimension | Greensboro | Winston-Salem |
|---|---|---|
| Combined property tax rate | Guilford County's 2026-27 rate sheet lists a countywide rate of $0.7895 per $100 and a City of Greensboro rate of $0.7985, for a combined $1.5880 inside the city. The same sheet lists $1.5244 in High Point, $1.4445 in Jamestown and $1.3165 in Kernersville. Addresses in the Downtown Improvement District add $0.0900. The county also lists a 1.0 percent discount for payment before September 1 and a $30 fee on motor vehicles in Greensboro. As our arithmetic and an illustration rather than a bill, a home assessed at $300,000 at $1.5880 per $100 would carry about $4,764 a year in county and city tax before relief. | Forsyth County's rate table lists a county rate of $0.5540 per $100 and a Winston-Salem rate of $0.5890, for a combined $1.143 inside the city, with $1.081 in Kernersville, $0.8340 in Rural Hall and $0.7991 at a Clemmons fire-district address. As our arithmetic and an illustration rather than a bill, a $300,000 assessment at $1.143 would carry about $3,429 a year, which is $1,335 less than the Greensboro illustration, and the gap in combined rates is $0.4450 per $100. Because the two counties assess separately, treat that gap as a starting point and confirm the assessed value of the specific home. |
| Revaluation timing and recent rate history | The Department of Revenue's schedule shows Guilford at $0.7305 for each year from 2021-22 through 2025-26, with the last revaluation in 2022 and the next scheduled for 2026. Guilford's reappraisal page says new values took effect January 1, 2026, owners were notified in February 2026, values appear on the bill received in July 2026 and the appeal deadline was May 15, 2026. The 2026-27 countywide rate of $0.7895 is higher than the $0.7305 of prior years, which is $0.0590 higher by our arithmetic, so an owner whose value did not rise can still see a larger bill. | The same state schedule lists Forsyth at $0.5352 for 2025-26, down from $0.6778 for 2024-25 and for each of the three years before that, with the last revaluation in 2025 and the next scheduled for 2029. Forsyth's tax office says its reappraisal took effect January 1, 2025, that the prior values dated from 2021 and that the county has generally reappraised every four years since 1988. The county's own 2026 rate table shows $0.5540, a different budget year from the state's 2025-26 figure, so use the county's current table for a bill estimate and confirm with the tax office at 336-703-2300. |
| Sales tax and the November 2026 ballot | North Carolina's rate table lists Guilford County at 6.75 percent, and the Greensboro visitors bureau lists a 6 percent city hotel and motel room tax. Guilford has placed an additional 0.25 percent sales tax on the November 3, 2026 ballot, which the county says would exclude prescriptions, motor vehicles, certain medical equipment, gasoline and non-prepared food or groceries and begin in April 2027 if approved. The county allocates the proceeds 70 percent to teacher supplements, 18 percent to fire protection, 8 percent to Guilford Technical Community College and 4 percent to qualifying municipalities. By our arithmetic, approval would bring Guilford to 7.00 percent. | The state table lists Forsyth County at 7 percent, which is a quarter of a percentage point, or 25 cents on each $100 of taxable purchases, above Guilford's current rate. As our arithmetic, a $10,000 taxable purchase carries $700 of sales tax in Forsyth against $675 in Guilford today. If Guilford's ballot measure passes, the two counties would carry the same listed rate, so the sales tax advantage of Greensboro would be limited to the period before collection starts. Check the November result before relying on either figure. |
| Relief for older homeowners | Guilford County describes three statewide programs. Homeowners aged 65 or older, or totally and permanently disabled, can have the greater of $25,000 or up to 50 percent of the primary residence value excluded if gross income for 2025 does not exceed $38,800. The circuit breaker deferment limits the bill to 4 to 5 percent of income for owners with gross income up to $58,200, requires five years of ownership and occupancy and an annual application, and creates a lien on the home. The disabled veteran exclusion removes $45,000 of value, and the application deadline is June 1. | Forsyth County describes the same three statewide programs with the same amounts: the greater of $25,000 or 50 percent of appraised value for owners 65 or older with income not above $38,800, a $45,000 disabled veteran exclusion, and a circuit breaker that limits taxes to 4 percent of income at or under $38,800 and 5 percent of income above that and up to $58,200 for the 2026 tax year, with the difference deferred as a lien. The county's deadline is also June 1. The rules do not separate the cities, so the practical difference is that a 50 percent exclusion removes less tax under Forsyth's lower combined rate than under Guilford's. |
| Hospitals and medical systems | Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist's High Point Medical Center, at 306 Westwood Avenue in neighboring High Point, describes a region of more than 600,000 people and lists a cancer center, a heart and vascular center, a stroke center, a neuroscience center, joint replacement and orthopaedic services and an emergency center. Its fiscal 2022 figures include 46,515 emergency visits and 13,657 adult hospital stays. Guilford Technical Community College lists dental, nursing, physical therapy and radiography programs in a healthcare pathway. Confirm which hospital your physicians use for a Greensboro address. | Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist describes its medical center in Winston-Salem as a 933-bed tertiary-care hospital that includes the children's hospital, and says the system has five community hospitals, more than 300 primary and specialty care locations and more than 2,700 physicians. Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center describes itself as one of the largest hospitals in the state and the referral center for patients from more than 22 counties. Two large systems in one city mean a choice of networks, so check that a Medicare Advantage plan includes the system you would use, using the healthcare access guide. |
| Parks, trails and culture | The visitors bureau lists more than 100 miles of trails, three greenways, Lake Brandt's Palmetto, Owl's Roost and Nathaniel Greene trails, Haw River State Park and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park. It lists the Greensboro Coliseum complex, the Greensboro Aquatic Center, the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts as a $94 million downtown venue and several golf courses. North Carolina A&T State University describes 13,885 students, and the bureau's attraction and restaurant counts are promotional figures. | Forsyth County's park system includes Tanglewood Park, a little over 1,100 acres with an aquatic center, stables, two golf courses and two lakes, and 492-acre Horizons Park with a free disc golf course. The county's community page lists Old Salem, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Kaleideum and the RiverRun International Film Festival, along with seven colleges and universities. The city lists recreation centers and a senior program for residents 50 and up through the Piedmont Plus Senior Games and Silver Arts. Triad Park, a 430-acre joint venture of Forsyth and Guilford counties, serves both cities. |
| Airport and getting around | The visitors bureau lists Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) at 1000 Ted Johnson Parkway, with service from Allegiant, American, Delta and United. It also lists Amtrak at the J. Douglas Galyon Depot, Greyhound, Trailways, the Greensboro Transit Authority, PART, car rental from eight companies and taxi, Lyft and Uber service. The airport fire district appears on the county's rate sheet at $0.1723, so a home near the airport should be checked for that levy. | Smith Reynolds Airport at 3801 North Liberty Street is county-operated and describes itself as a base for corporate aircraft, air charter, general aviation and air cargo. For scheduled airline service a Winston-Salem resident would use Piedmont Triad International in Greensboro, and the Greensboro bureau lists Amtrak at the Greensboro depot. Winston-Salem's own airport serves general aviation rather than airlines, so test the drive to the airport at the hours you would travel. |
| Fire districts and special levies | Parcels outside Greensboro's limits pay the countywide rate plus a fire district rate; Mount Hope totals $0.9095, and the sheet lists $0.2037 for Pinecroft-Sedgefield and $0.1922 for Guilford College. Inside the city, special districts add to the combined rate: $0.0500 in the Dunleath Historic District and $0.0100 in the College Hill Historic District, besides the downtown rate. Ask the insurer which fire district and protection class apply. | Forsyth's table lists a countywide fire service district rate of $0.0951 per $100 and additional district rates in some areas. The Winston-Salem Business Improvement district is listed at a combined $1.233, which applies to the downtown district rather than a residential address. Forsyth's online parcel viewer and tax jurisdiction map let a buyer confirm the taxing districts for a property before contract. |
Related guides
Sources and review date
Last reviewed . Facts on this page come from the sources below; where a rule or figure can change, check the linked source before relying on it.
- 2025-2026 County Tax Rates — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Current Sales and Use Tax Rates — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
- 2026 - 2027 Tax Property Rates — Guilford County Tax Department (accessed 2026-09-30)
- 2026 Tax Reappraisal Information and Learning Hub — Guilford County Tax Department (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Property Tax Relief Programs — Guilford County Tax Department (accessed 2026-09-30)
- 2026 Sales Tax Referendum — Guilford County (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Greensboro Facts — Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Get Around — Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Sports & Recreation — Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (accessed 2026-09-30)
- High Point Medical Center — Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist (accessed 2026-09-30)
- North Carolina A&T State University — North Carolina A&T State University (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Greensboro (GSO) Daily Normals — National Weather Service Raleigh (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Tax Rates — Forsyth County Tax Administration (accessed 2026-09-30)
- 2025 Reappraisal — Forsyth County Tax Administration (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Property Tax Relief — Forsyth County Tax Administration (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Parks & Recreation — Forsyth County Parks and Recreation (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Community Information — Forsyth County (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Seniors — City of Winston-Salem (accessed 2026-09-30)
- About Us — Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Forsyth Medical Center — Novant Health (accessed 2026-09-30)
- Smith Reynolds Airport — Forsyth County (Smith Reynolds Airport) (accessed 2026-09-30)