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Welcome to Wake Forest ...

The town of Wake Forest is primarily located in Franklin County<1>. A portion of Wake Forest extends into Wake County.



Google driving directions from your current location to Wake Forest

The location of Wake Forest has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (the GNIS).<2>


Wake Forest was established in 1820.

A typical abbreviation for Wake Forest: Wake Frst.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Wake Forest has a population of 45,701 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Wake Forest is 390 feet [119 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Wake Forest lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Wake Forest: 919 & 984<5>

Websites for Wake Forest ...

Official Website:   www.ci.wake-forest.nc.us/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.wakeforestchamber.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Wake Forest had an population of 45,701 people. This is an increase of 51.74% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 263.05% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Wake Forest had a population of 30,117 people (which is 49.51% of the total population of Franklin County). This makes Wake Forest the county's most populous community.

The population of Wake Forest represents 0.32% of the total population of North Carolina (which has 9,535,483 people), making it the state's 28th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 30,117 people, the population of Wake Forest increased 139.25% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 12,588 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Wake Forest.

Communities Also Named Wake Forest ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Wake Forest - it's located in Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wake Forest.

Communities near Wake Forest ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Wake Forest.

  • Raleigh
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Garner
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garner. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
    • Garner is located in Wake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 32,180 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garner <6>
  • Knightdale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knightdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightdale
    • Knightdale is located in Wake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,122 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Knightdale <6>
  • Wendell
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Rolesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolesville
    • Rolesville is located in Wake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,882 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rolesville <6>
  • Butner
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Zebulon
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Creedmoor
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Louisburg
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Franklinton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Wake Forest. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Wake Forest.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Wake Forest. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wake Forest.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Wake Forest. See our Newspapers Page for Wake Forest.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Wake Forest ...

Looking for more information about Wake Forest? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Wake Forest, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Wake Forest.

Adding Wake Forest to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Wake Forest in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Wake Forest was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found Wake Forest on a map titled Rand McNally Map of North Carolina (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Wake Forest.

The official website for Wake Forest: www.ci.wake-forest.nc.us/

The official website for Franklin County: www.co.franklin.nc.us/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Franklin, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Wake Forest.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Wake Forest - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 919 code has been Overlayed with the 984 area code. New phone numbers in the Wake Forest area will be assigned with one of these codes: 919 or 984. As a result, placing a call in the Wake Forest area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 19 Jan 2025