Salem Common Historic District · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Salem have higher incomes than those in 84% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Salem are A for jobs and income and B for walkability. Below the poverty line: 5.0% of residents; New Hampshire has 7.2%. About one in five work in Salem; the top destination outside it is Manchester (6%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Salem
No single place dominates Salem’s commute
The biggest draw, Manchester, gets only 6% of working residents, and 50% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Salem residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Many of the people who work in Salem live in another state
Methuen, MA (5%), Lawrence, MA (4%) and Haverhill, MA (3%) are among the top places Salem’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 12% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
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 Salem
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Salem is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #18 of 126 in New Hampshire. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Salem’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salem could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Where Salem’s working residents head each day
Where Salem clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
Who commutes out of Salem, and who commutes in
On a workday 13,335 residents head out to work, 2,783 work right here, and 18,765 people come in from elsewhere.
About 37,000 people are in Salem on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.34 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 kinds of work in Salem
21,548 jobs are based in Salem.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 21,118 → 21,548. 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.
Salem’s commute takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salem workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,162 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across New Hampshire: 87% 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.
The distance from Salem to work
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.
Few in Salem walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salem is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #38 of 126 in New Hampshire. Both inputs place Salem near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 18,115 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 40% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.1% of Salem households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Salem’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Salem is 168th among 1,368 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 43,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Bedford NH | 23,973 | $167K | 2.7% | 1.7% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Merrimack NH | 29,699 | $127K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 17% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 166 | McCandless Township PA | 28,439 | $111K | 3.9% | 3.1% | 10% | A |
| 167 | Mansfield MA | 24,236 | $125K | 4.7% | 3.4% | 10% | A |
| 168 | Salem NH | 31,868 | $110K | 5.0% | 2.8% | 17% | A |
| 169 | Upper Macungie Township PA | 29,600 | $121K | 3.2% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| 170 | Billerica MA | 42,632 | $148K | 5.4% | 3.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 341 | Londonderry NH | 27,844 | $133K | 2.7% | 5.0% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,368 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 New Hampshire.
The towns around Salem
The biggest share goes to Methuen (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Salem’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: questions
What is the median household income in Salem?
$110,490 (±$9,292) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salem?
5.0%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salem?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salem work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Manchester (6%, 18 mi), Nashua (5%, 14 mi), Andover (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salem walkable?
Salem is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salem without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.