Wake Forest, North Carolina demographics

Wake Forest, NC demographics: median age 38.6; 59.5% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Wake Forest town, North Carolina · Incorporated town · GEOID 3770540. The survey estimates a population of 52,844 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Wake Forest is 38.6 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.9 years. There are 18,403 households (±748). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	38.6 ±1.9	39.1 ±0.2	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 52,844
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
Under 18	14,002 ±1,015	26.5% ±1.9 pp	21.8%	22.0%
18–34	10,271 ±1,029	19.4% ±1.9 pp	22.9%	22.8%
35–64	21,805 ±1,411	41.3% ±2.7 pp	38.2%	38.0%
65 and older	6,766 ±722	12.8% ±1.4 pp	17.2%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 52,844
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
Male	25,497 ±834	48.2% ±1.6 pp	48.9%	49.5%
Female	27,347 ±831	51.8% ±1.6 pp	51.1%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 52,844
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
White alone	34,692 ±1,930	65.6% ±3.7 pp	61.8%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	10,433 ±1,681	19.7% ±3.2 pp	20.3%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	21 ±24 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	1.1%	0.9%
Asian alone	1,554 ±606	2.9% ±1.1 pp	3.3%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	5 ±9 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.2%
Some other race alone	1,384 ±559	2.6% ±1.1 pp	5.2%	7.1%
Two or more races	4,755 ±1,191	9.0% ±2.3 pp	8.3%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 52,844
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	48,100 ±933	91.0% ±1.8 pp	88.7%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	4,744 ±934	9.0% ±1.8 pp	11.3%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 18,403
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
Married-couple family	11,536 ±722	62.7% ±3.0 pp	47.2%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	633 ±248	3.4% ±1.3 pp	4.6%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	2,163 ±579	11.8% ±3.1 pp	12.5%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	3,243 ±535	17.6% ±2.8 pp	29.4%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	828 ±389	4.5% ±2.1 pp	6.3%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 18,403
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
Households with people under 18	7,138 ±460	38.8% ±1.9 pp	29.1%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	11,265 ±929	61.2% ±4.4 pp	70.9%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 18,403
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	3,243 ±535	17.6% ±2.8 pp	29.4%	28.7%
Two-person households	6,780 ±868	36.8% ±4.5 pp	35.6%	33.8%
Three-person households	3,393 ±497	18.4% ±2.6 pp	15.6%	15.3%
Four-person households	3,132 ±433	17.0% ±2.2 pp	11.8%	12.6%
Five-person households	1,303 ±285	7.1% ±1.5 pp	5.0%	5.9%
Six-person households	342 ±145	1.9% ±0.8 pp	1.8%	2.2%
Seven or more people	210 ±105	1.1% ±0.6 pp	0.9%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 52,844
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
Native	47,812 ±820	90.5% ±1.6 pp	90.9%	85.9%
Foreign born	5,032 ±812	9.5% ±1.5 pp	9.1%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 49,676
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
English only	44,449 ±1,022	89.5% ±1.8 pp	86.5%	77.7%
Spanish	2,335 ±501	4.7% ±1.0 pp	8.7%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	284 ±220 · low precision	0.6% ±0.4 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	75 ±55 · low precision	0.2% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	304 ±289 · low precision	0.6% ±0.6 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	730 ±393 · low precision	1.5% ±0.8 pp · low precision	1.2%	2.0%
Korean	349 ±238 · low precision	0.7% ±0.5 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	53 ±45 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.4%	1.1%
Vietnamese	60 ±57 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	15 ±23 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	248 ±182 · low precision	0.5% ±0.4 pp · low precision	0.9%	1.1%
Arabic	376 ±422 · low precision	0.8% ±0.8 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	398 ±263 · low precision	0.8% ±0.5 pp · low precision	0.5%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 35,271
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	1,278 ±351	3.6% ±1.0 pp	9.9%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	4,434 ±864	12.6% ±2.4 pp	24.8%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	5,597 ±712	15.9% ±1.9 pp	19.6%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	2,962 ±622	8.4% ±1.7 pp	10.1%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	12,629 ±1,121	35.8% ±2.9 pp	22.2%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	8,371 ±837	23.7% ±2.2 pp	13.5%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 52,490
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	North Carolina	U.S.
Same house	44,095 ±2,000	84.0% ±3.8 pp	87.3%	87.7%
Moved within same county	4,804 ±1,757	9.2% ±3.3 pp	5.5%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	1,184 ±509	2.3% ±1.0 pp	3.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	1,828 ±639	3.5% ±1.2 pp	3.0%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	579 ±630 · low precision	1.1% ±1.2 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

4.7% of Wake Forest residents (±1.4 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 9.9% in North Carolina and 8.4% nationally. 97.8% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Wake Forest	North Carolina	U.S.	Compared with North Carolina
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	4.7% ±1.4 pp	9.9%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	97.8% ±1.5 pp	90.1%	91.0%	Higher
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	7.7% ±1.6 pp	7.4%	6.2%	Not statistically different

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Wake Forest . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Wake Forest housing and cost context or return to the city profile.