Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,377.
The best of Salem’s subject grades is an A− for cost of living; the weakest is a D for health. On the outdoors, just 29 of North Carolina’s 451 towns do worse. Gilboa Methodist Church and Walker Top Baptist Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Salem has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where 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 North Carolina), ordered by how far Salem is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1935 and 2 maps from 1956 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Salem is unincorporated, so Burke 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Salem.
Among adults 18 to 64 in Salem, 14% have no health insurance. Only 9 of the 290 North Carolina towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Salem. In Salem, 18% of adults report frequent physical distress, and 28% say their health is fair or poor.
| Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 19% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Salem | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 12.8% | 7.1% |
| More smokers | 20.9% | 13.5% |
| More adults with heart disease | 10.1% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Public schools: the Burke County Schools. Its one school is below. Salem’s only public school teaches 476 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salem ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 476 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Half the trips to work are shorter than 18 miles. Jobs based in Salem grew to 89 in 2023, 57 more than in 2013. 19% of residents live below the poverty line locally. In Salem, the average trip to work is 21 minutes, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 24 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes.
| Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.7% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Salem, the peak summer temperature is 88°F, close to North Carolina’s towns (89°F) and above U.S. towns (85°F).
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
On expected storm and flood damage, Salem sits below 64% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 62% come from inland flooding and 13% from tornadoes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Salem’s going rate for rent comes in at $856 a month. The share of households in Salem who own their home: 72%.
| Salem | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $856 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 67% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Salem. Close and well known come first.
Big draw32 mi MountainMount Mitchell
20 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
29 mi MountainGrandfather Mountain33 mi Theme parkTweetsie Railroad7 mi Ancient siteJoara
19 mi Park & preserveLinville Gorge WildernessMount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Grandfather Mountain: Original uploader was KyleAndMelissa22 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Linville Gorge Wilderness: No machine-readable author provided. Amcbride~commonswiki assumed (based on copy, Public domain
2 within 15 miles of the center of Salem
About 9 of every 100 Salem residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
4 notable people were born in Salem.
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
Salem is a census-designated place (CDP) in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Salem had a population of 2,356. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Salem.
Salem has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Salem and Morganton report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Salem with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $159,000, 52% below the North Carolina typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
Salem has 1 place on the National Register of Historic Places. 4 notable people were born here, including Alfred Horatio Belo and Emil Alexander de Schweinitz.
