Winston-Salem made the Mercer's list of "World's Cheapest Cities for Expensive Living 2011" along with cities like Quito, Sarajevo and number one on the list Karachi, Pakistan. Here's the description of Winston-Salem:

This city of 230,000 people is the least-expensive U.S. city in Mercer's survey. Winston-Salem, home to Reynolds American (RAI)—the holding company of cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds Tobacco—as well as Wake Forest University, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center,Novant Health, and Hanesbrands (HBI), has a median household income of $41,979 and a poverty rate of 13.5 percent, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

The description also says this:

Monthly rent, unfurnished 2-br luxury apartment: $500

So I guess you'll have to take the list with a grain of salt.