Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Salem gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $147K, 2.4 years of the Centralia area’s $61K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 544th of 767 in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 70% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top, and residents are less healthy than 78% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 36% of working residents work locally in Salem, above both Illinois’ towns (8.3%) and U.S. towns (8%). Salem has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them William Jennings Bryan Boyhood Home and Badollet House. Among 768 Illinois towns, just 10 have a lower average trip to work than Salem.
Where Salem beats most towns.
William Jennings Bryan Boyhood HomeWhere Salem’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Salem is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,182 in 1870, 7,282 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 3 maps from 1934 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Salem, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Salem.
Salem draws workers from Centralia and beyond and has property taxes about half the Illinois norm.
5,411 jobs are based in Salem, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 13.9 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 3 of Salem’s working residents works in town. 16% of Salem residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Salem has added 638 jobs, to 5,411 in 2023.
| Salem | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median property tax bill is $2,253, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Salem’s median rent is $774 a month. Typical home values rose 5.7% in the year to September 2026. 65% of households own their home in Salem.
| Salem | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $774 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Salem beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15.
| Salem | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Salem | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.6% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.1% | 6.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.4% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The property crime rate in Salem is 18.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Salem | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.2 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1.6 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Bryan Memorial Park, at 60 acres.
| Salem | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bryan Memorial Park | — | 60 |
| 2. Tully Park | — | 10 |
| 3. Salem Reservoir Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Since 1979, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Salem.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Salem has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 22° and about 10 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Salem
About 4 of every 100 Salem residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
4 places in Salem on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Salem.
City in Illinois, United States
Salem is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,282 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Salem grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #544 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C− for health, C for safety and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
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−.
10 notable people were born here, including William Jennings Bryan and Bill Laswell.
