Richwood Evangelical Lutheran Church · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainUnemployment in Salem Township (3.4%) is lower than in 63% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Salem Township for work; outside it, Muncie is the main destination (19%, 9 miles). For jobs and income Salem Township is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (C−). A typical one-way commute lasts 28 minutes, where Indiana has 24 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How Salem Township earns its Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Salem Township’s grade up (6.3%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($70,406, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salem Township could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The daily commute in and out of Salem Township
On a workday 1,318 residents head out to work, 132 work right here, and 1,926 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,700 people are in Salem Township on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.42 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.
The towns that employ Salem Township’s residents
Where Salem Township clocks in
19% of workers
16% of workers
10% 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.
What work there is in Salem Township: 2,058 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salem Township, 2013 → 2023: 2,377 → 2,058. 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 Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Salem Township’s commute takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salem Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,715 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% 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.
Half of Salem Township commutes less than 11 miles
About 16% 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.
In Salem Township, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,960 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). 1.7% of Salem Township households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Salem Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Salem Township is 1,486th among 4,283 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Clark Township IN | 3,026 | $138K | 5.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Georgetown IN | 3,855 | $113K | 2.1% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,484 | Tusculum TN | 3,421 | $71K | 5.5% | 3.3% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,485 | Kalama WA | 3,165 | $102K | 13.4% | 1.3% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,486 | Salem Township IN | 4,057 | $70K | 6.3% | 3.4% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,487 | Noble Township IN | 2,954 | $73K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,488 | Mount Carmel OH | 4,890 | $70K | 13.7% | 1.7% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,283 | 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 Salem Township, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Next door to Salem Township
The biggest share goes to Yorktown (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Salem Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem Township | – | B+ | C− | 28 min | $70,406 |
| Yorktown | 3% | A− | C | 21 min | $81,674 |
| Fall Creek Township | under 2% | B+ | B− | 31 min | $69,350 |
| Monroe Township | under 2% | B+ | C− | 24 min | $92,083 |
| Union Township | under 2% | B | C− | 24 min | $75,795 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Salem Township’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 Township: questions
What is the median household income in Salem Township?
$70,406 (±$9,215) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salem Township?
6.3%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salem Township?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salem Township work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Muncie (19%, 9 mi), Anderson (16%, 10 mi), Indianapolis (10%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salem Township walkable?
Salem Township is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salem Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Salem Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salem Township
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.