SalemAR
A town of 2,642 in Arkansas.
Is Salem a good place to live?
A solid town with one catch. Its best grade is for cost of living (A): a typical home costs about $241K, 3.6 years of the Little Rock metro’s $67K median household income. Add incomes to its strengths — the median household earns $74K. What holds it back is walkability (C). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 71% of U.S. towns. All told, that adds up to an A+ overall and a rank of 1st of 123 in Arkansas. It comes out better than 98% of U.S. towns. Only 5 of Arkansas’ 201 towns score lower on history.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
What makes Salem stand out
Where Salem beats most towns.
Typical home value
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Salem Elementary School | K–5 | 469 |
99% of working residents leave Salem for work
Where Salem’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Salem grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arkansas), ordered by how far Salem is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and 18 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Salem. Close and well known come first.
16 mi National Historic SiteLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site49K visitors a year
27 mi National ParkHot Springs National Park2.5M visitors a year
19 mi MuseumClinton Presidential Center
19 mi Stadium & arenaSimmons Bank Arena
40 mi State parkPetit Jean State Park27 mi Theme parkMagic Springs and Crystal FallsPhoto credits
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site: Adam Jones, Ph.D., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hot Springs National Park: Unknown, Public domain · Clinton Presidential Center: Archipreneur, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Simmons Bank Arena: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Petit Jean State Park: ErgoSum88, Public domain
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Moving to Salem: who provides what
Salem is unincorporated, so Saline County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Salem.
Salem pairs an A for schools with modest home prices, has less tooth loss than most of Arkansas and sends most of its workers to Little Rock and beyond.
Salem’s schools rank ahead of 85% of Arkansas districts
Its A for schools comes with an A for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $241K.
The Bryant School District runs its public schools. Its one school is below. Salem’s only public school teaches 469 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salem Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 469 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
The median age in Salem is higher than in most of Arkansas or the rest of the country
Children under 18 are 9% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 29% of residents (18% statewide). College graduates make up 26% of adults 25 and older, against 26% across Arkansas.
| Salem | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 53.8 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 29% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 20% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
61% women, 39% men
About 64 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±10 points). Across Arkansas, 50.6% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 72% are men (AR 42%).
| Salem | AR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 4.8% | 12.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 4.3% | 10.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.4% | 9.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.4% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.4% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.4% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.5% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.4% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.4% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 11.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 41% | 34.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.4% | 20.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.1% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.9% | 16.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 5.8% | 9.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,600, single groups can be off by several points
A smaller share of residents in Salem live below the poverty line than in the typical Arkansas or U.S. town
Salem has 293 jobs for its 1,240 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
The average trip to work for Salem comes to 22 minutes, above Arkansas’ towns (21 minutes) but below U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2013, Salem has added 132 jobs, to 293 in 2023. Among working residents in the town, 0.6% work locally. The top destinations are Little Rock (41%), Benton (15%) and Bryant (9%).
| Salem | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 2.4% | 18% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.6% | 22% | 8% |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The climate in Salem brings mild winters and hot summers
In Salem, the midsummer high is 92°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Natural hazards: high risk in Salem, mostly inland flooding
The FEMA hazard score in Salem is 66 of 100. 46% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 16%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Residents of Salem are healthier than 57% of U.S. towns
Its widest gap with Arkansas is tooth loss: 8.2% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 18.6% statewide. Within Arkansas it is healthier than 84% of the 123 graded towns: much of Arkansas scores lower on these measures.
For adults in Salem, the share who have obesity is 34%. Of 32 CDC measures, Salem beats the Arkansas average on 13 and trails it on 1. Among 123 Arkansas towns, just 5 have a lower share of adults who worry about having enough food than Salem.
| Salem | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 20% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 20% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 39% | 35% |
| What stands out | Salem | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.2% | 18.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.9% | 18.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Salem’s grade for cost of living is an A
Home values are up 6.9% over the year to September 2026. In Salem, 84% of households own their home.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Salem
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Salem
About 5 of every 100 Salem residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
About Salem
CDP in Arkansas, United States
Salem is a census-designated place (CDP) in Saline County, Arkansas, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 2,544. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 469 ft
- Area code
- 501
Salem’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Salem.
Salem reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Salem with a neighbor →
Questions about Salem
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Salem, AR a good place to live?
Yes, by almost any measure. Salem grades A+ overall, better than 98% of U.S. towns and #1 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades B for health and A for schools.
Is Salem, AR expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.