Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Salmon trail those of 94% of U.S. towns
4% of workers have no commute at all, next to 13% for Idaho as a whole. Poverty touches 15.1% of residents, against 10.6% across Idaho. The two grades for Salmon are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Salmon
Commutes from Salmon are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 22 across Idaho. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Idaho worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Salmon workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Idaho. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Salmon
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Salmon is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #50 of 59 in Idaho. Unemployment holds Salmon’s grade up (3.0%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salmon could be anywhere from D− to C+.
A commute of about 13 minutes in Salmon
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salmon workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,204 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% 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.
Who commutes out of Salmon, and who commutes in
On a workday 529 residents head out to work, 551 work right here, and 1,023 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,800 people are in Salmon on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
5% of working residents work in Leadore
Where Salmon clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Salmon’s 1,574 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salmon, 2013 → 2023: 1,310 → 1,574. 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 Salmon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Salmon, by distance
About 26% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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 Salmon commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salmon is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #28 of 59 in Idaho. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.5% across Idaho, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,256 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). 11.7% of Salmon households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Salmon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,453 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400, Salmon comes 3,717th 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 697 | Hidden Springs ID | 3,378 | $163K | 7.2% | 4.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 713 | Dalton Gardens ID | 2,496 | $80K | 4.6% | 1.1% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,097 | Ketchum ID | 3,643 | $93K | 5.2% | 0.0% | 37% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,715 | Haddon Township IN | 3,759 | $63K | 15.0% | 7.0% | 6% | C− |
| 3,716 | Hartford AL | 2,801 | $56K | 18.7% | 5.5% | 13% | C− |
| 3,717 | Salmon ID | 3,286 | $43K | 15.1% | 3.0% | 51% | C− |
| 3,718 | Wright Township IN | 3,567 | $54K | 8.7% | 6.9% | 11% | C− |
| 3,719 | Anson ME | 2,333 | $52K | 8.8% | 3.8% | 13% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Salmon, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
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 Salmon: questions
What is the median household income in Salmon?
$42,844 (±$9,544) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salmon?
15.1%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salmon?
13 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salmon work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Leadore (5%, 43 mi), Idaho Falls (4%, 148 mi), Boise City (3%, 159 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salmon walkable?
Salmon is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salmon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Salmon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salmon
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.