This close group of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the United States and forms the basis of the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC Combined Statistical Area (CSA).

As of 2012, the Piedmont Triad has an estimated population of 1,611,243 making it the 33rd largest combined statistical area in the United States.

Long known as one of the primary manufacturing and transportation hubs of the southeastern United States, the Triad is also an important educational, healthcare, and cultural region and occupies a prominent place in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement.

[4] The Piedmont Triad is sometimes confused with the Research Triangle, an adjacent urbanized region of North Carolina that includes the cities of Raleigh, Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, among others.

The furniture and textile industries have in turn spawned large trucking, logistics, and warehousing businesses in the area.

Recently, however, many furniture and tobacco factories have been closing and/or laying off workers across the region in response to escalating industrial globalization.

Dell, Inc., in the early 2000s struck a deal with local officials allowing for the construction of a new computer assembly plant near the Triad city of Kernersville.

Upon full build out of the project, it is expected to be housed by two 75-acre (300,000 m2) campuses, employ approximately 2,000 people, and generate $50 million per year to the Triad economy.