Moinești (Romanian pronunciation: [mojˈneʃtʲ] ; Hungarian: Mojnest) is a city in Bacău County, Western Moldavia, Romania, with a population of 19,728 as of 2021. Its name is derived from the Romanian-language word moină, which means "fallow" or "light rain". Moinești once had a large Jewish community, and in 1899 about half of the population was Jewish; in Jewish contexts the name is often given as Mojnescht or "Monesht". The city administers one village, Găzărie.

The city is situated in the foothills of the Tarcău Mountains, at an altitude of 400 m (1,300 ft), on the banks of the river Tazlăul Sărat. It is located in the northwestern part of Bacău County, 45 km (28 mi) west of the county seat, Bacău.

Moinești is crossed by national road DN2G [ro], which connects it to Bacău (where it ends in DN2) and to nearby Comănești (where it ends in DN12A [ro]).

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1930	6,616	—
1948	5,868	−11.3%
1956	12,934	+120.4%
1966	18,714	+44.7%
1977	20,862	+11.5%
1992	25,560	+22.5%
2002	25,532	−0.1%
2011	21,787	−14.7%
2021	19,728	−9.5%
Source: Census data

First mentioned in 1467, the locality was listed among the Moldavian villages on the Bawer map of 1783. A târg was first attested in this location in 1832; it had 188 houses and 588 inhabitants.

In 1921, Moinești was designated a comună urbană ("urban commune"), with its own coat of arms and local administration, but a step short of being considered a city. It became a municipality in 2002. The 2011 census counted 20,855 inhabitants. At the 2021 census, the city had a population of 19,728.

There are two secondary schools in Moinești: the Spiru Haret Theoretical High School and the Grigore Cobălcescu Technical College.

The area around Moinești is rich in natural resources such as petroleum, natural gas, salt, and timber. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Moinești experienced a steady economic growth thanks to the large petroleum extracting industry. After 1990, however, following the nationwide industry privatization, Moinești's economy changed dramatically, at some points reaching level of unemployment of over 20%.

In 1996, a monument was built in the town in honor of Tristan Tzara, the Moinești-born founder of Dadaism. It was created from concrete and steel by the German-Romanian sculptor Ingo Glass in the true Dada spirit. It is 25 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, and 10 meters high and it weighs 120 tons.

Tourist attractions in Moinești include: Băi Park (with healing mineral waters), Pine Tree Park, Ghindaru Hill (where archaeologists discovered artefacts of the pre-Cucuteni culture, over 5,000 years old), the Dada Monument (dedicated to Tristan Tzara), Cetățuia (Dacian fortified city archaeologically certified), and the Jewish Cemetery (where the oldest tombstone with recognisable text dates back to 1692).

• Alexandru Barna (born 1993), footballer
• Robert Căruță (born 1996), footballer
• Lăcrămioara Filip (born 1973), gymnast
• Vasile Gherasim (1950 – 2020), politician
• Alexandru Margină (born 1993), footballer
• Nestor Rateș [ro] (born 1933), journalist, Head of Romanian Desk of Radio Free Europe 1989, 1994–2002
• Moses Rosen (1912 – 1994), Chief Rabbi of Romania from 1948 to 1994
• Moshe David Shuv [ro] (1854 – 1938), born Moșe David Iancovici, early Zionist and founder of Rosh Pinna
• Tristan Tzara (1896 – 1963), writer and founder of Dada