Almost no one in Salem’s labor force is looking for work
Hardly any work in Salem; the top destination outside it is Little Rock (41%, 13 miles). Salem grades A for jobs and income and C for walkability. The poverty rate is 2.4%, next to 16.0% for Arkansas as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Salem: the gist
41% of Salem works in Little Rock
508 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Little Rock, 13 miles away. That’s 41 times as many as work in Salem itself. The commute map ↓
Salem is a place people come home to
There are 293 jobs based in Salem, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Salem has about 1,700 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Salem’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Salem is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #5 of 123 in Arkansas. Unemployment holds Salem’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($73,750, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salem could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The places Salem commutes to
Where Salem clocks in
41% of workers
15% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How a workday changes Salem
On a workday 1,232 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 285 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Salem on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.24 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Salem works in goods: 46% of its jobs
293 jobs are based in Salem.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 161 → 293. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Salem’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Salem’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salem workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,114 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Arkansas: 87% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The commute from Salem, by distance
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Salem commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salem is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #81 of 123 in Arkansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.0% across Arkansas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,302 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.9% of Salem households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Salem’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,278 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,600, Salem comes 375th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Avilla AR | 1,833 | $106K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 249 | Goshen AR | 2,405 | $150K | 1.7% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 373 | Lima WI | 2,920 | $106K | 5.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A |
| 374 | Union WI | 2,099 | $99K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| 375 | Salem AR | 2,642 | $74K | 2.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 376 | Afton MN | 2,960 | $133K | 6.3% | 3.2% | 1% | A |
| 377 | Brimfield OH | 2,979 | $90K | 4.2% | 2.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 638 | Elm Springs AR | 2,852 | $132K | 11.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,278 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Salem, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Next door is work for 15% of Salem
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Benton. Darker towns draw more of Salem’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Salem: questions
What is the median household income in Salem?
$73,750 (±$26,726) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salem?
2.4%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salem?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salem work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Rock (41%, 13 mi), Benton (15%, 4 mi), Bryant (9%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salem walkable?
Salem is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salem without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Salem, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salem
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.