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.

The location of Wake Forest has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- 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

Telephone area codes for Wake Forest: (919) and (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 49.68% 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)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
  • Raleigh is located in Wake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 474,414 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raleigh <6>
• Garner
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • 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)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendell
  • Wendell is located in Wake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,387 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wendell <6>
• 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)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butner
  • Butner is located in Granville County
  • Estimated population in 2015: 7,751 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Butner <6>
• Zebulon
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zebulon
  • Zebulon is located in Wake County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,514 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zebulon <6>
• Creedmoor
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creedmoor
  • Creedmoor is located in Granville County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,615 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Creedmoor <6>
• Louisburg
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
  • Louisburg is located in Franklin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,694 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisburg <6>
• Franklinton
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklinton
  • Franklinton is located in Franklin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,312 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklinton <6>

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.

Off-the-Road Links ...

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/