Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Salem earn less than those in 79% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Salem is better than 15% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (B−). 25.7% of residents live below the poverty line, where Indiana as a whole has 12.3%. About one in four stay in Salem for work; outside it, Indianapolis is the main destination (6%, 81 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Salem’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Salem’s grade up (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salem could be anywhere from D to C+.
How many people are in Salem by day
On a workday 2,018 residents head out to work, 690 work right here, and 2,637 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,000 people are in Salem on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 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’s residents
Where Salem clocks in
6% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
The 3,327 jobs based in Salem
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 3,272 → 3,327. 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.
About 26 minutes each way, about the IN average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salem workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,630 commuters (the 9% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Salem
About 21% 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.
Driving is how Salem gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Indiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,885 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). 6.8% of Salem households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Salem’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Salem is 2,928th among 3,306 U.S. towns of 4,500 to 8,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Worth Township IN | 6,688 | $123K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 160 | New Whiteland IN | 5,937 | $90K | 3.3% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,926 | Adams Township IN | 5,235 | $61K | 18.9% | 5.4% | 18% | C− |
| 2,927 | Hartford City IN | 5,898 | $42K | 19.5% | 5.2% | 18% | C− |
| 2,928 | Salem IN | 6,427 | $57K | 25.7% | 4.8% | 25% | C− |
| 2,929 | Highland Park MI | 8,248 | $29K | 40.9% | 18.7% | 1% | C− |
| 2,930 | Glasgow Village MO | 5,504 | $30K | 46.7% | 10.0% | <1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,306 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Indiana.
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?
$56,538 (±$6,839) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salem?
25.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salem?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salem work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (6%, 81 mi), New Albany (6%, 25 mi), Jeffersonville (4%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salem walkable?
Salem is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salem without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% 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.