Salem TownshipWayne County, PA
A town of 4,174, settled in 1811.
Is Salem Township a good place to live?
Salem Township grades C overall, 865th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Natural-hazard risk is low and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 82% of U.S. towns. On the other side, homes are expensive, about $241K for a typical one and 3.9 times the county’s $62K median household income. Salem Township’s median age is 53.9 years, against 43.2 years in Pennsylvania’s towns and 40.5 years across U.S. towns. Lacawac Sanctuary, at 88 acres with 1.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
What makes Salem Township stand out
Where Salem Township beats most towns.
How Salem Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Salem Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Lake Wallenpaupack and 23 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Salem Township. Close and well known come first.
7 mi LakeLake Wallenpaupack
15 mi National Historic SiteSteamtown National Historic Site61K visitors a year
37 mi MountainHigh Point
28 mi National park siteMiddle Delaware National Scenic River4.1M visitors a year
24 mi Ski areaCamelback Mountain Resort37 runs · 804 ft vertical
30 mi State parkHickory Run State ParkPhoto credits
Lake Wallenpaupack: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Steamtown National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · High Point: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Middle Delaware National Scenic River: Mike Serfas, Public domain · Camelback Mountain Resort: Calzarette at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Hickory Run State Park: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Moving to Salem Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Salem Township, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Salem Township.
Salem Township is a second-home town and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Salem Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 89% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools in Salem Township beat 64% of Pennsylvania districts
Its public schools are run by Western Wayne SD. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| EverGreen El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 522 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Fewer young adults than Pennsylvania overall
36.5% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 2.5% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 27% of residents (20% statewide). 27% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| Salem Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 20% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 27% | 29% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Salem Township | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.2% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.3% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.3% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 4.6% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.9% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.3% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.3% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.7% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39.7% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.3% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.5% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.8% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,200, single groups can be off by several points
In Salem Township, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Salem Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Salem Township’s July high is 80°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most of Salem Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.8 jobs for each of them
Jobs based here fell from 2,227 in 2013 to 1,361.
Most working residents leave Salem Township for work: only 13% work in town. Since 2013, Salem Township has lost 866 jobs, to 1,361 in 2023. The average trip to work in Salem Township is 28 minutes.
| Salem Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $62,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Health in Salem Township trails 55% of U.S. towns
Against the 9,322 U.S. towns with household incomes like Salem Township’s, it is healthier than 67%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Salem Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 2 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 18% of adults smoke cigarettes in Salem Township.
| Salem Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Salem Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 82.9% | 79.2% |
| More adults getting cholesterol checked | 87.8% | 85.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 9.6% | 7.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Salem Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.7% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lacawac Sanctuary | 1.6 mi | 88 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Salem Township
Colleges nearby
7 within 15 miles of the center of Salem Township
About 3 of every 100 Salem Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
About Salem Township
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Salem is a second-class township in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The township's population was 4,271 at the time of the 2010 United States Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 32 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,594 ft
Salem Township’s neighbors
10 towns share a border with Salem Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem Township | #865 | C | C− | — | B | C+ |
| Sterling Township | — | — | C+ | — | B | C+ |
| Greene Township | #896 | C | B− | — | B | C+ |
| Lake Wallenpaupack Estates | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Indian Rocks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Paupack Township | #976 | C− | D | — | B | B− |
| Jefferson Township | #280 | A− | B | A+ | A | B− |
| The Escape | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Sterling Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Salem Township, Sterling Township, Greene Township and Paupack Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Lake Wallenpaupack Estates, Indian Rocks and The Escape aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Salem Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Salem Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Salem Township, PA a good place to live?
Salem Township grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #865 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C+ for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Salem Township, PA expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.