Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Households in Salem earn less than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Only 7% stay in Salem for work; outside it, Bridgeport is the main destination (10%, 17 miles). Below the poverty line: 16.8% of residents, against 16.7% across West Virginia. Salem grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Salem apart
Fewer jobs are based in Salem than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Salem fell from 871 in 2013 to 356 in 2023, −59%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Salem pay little
31% of the jobs based in Salem pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Salem are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 520 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Salem’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Salem is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Salem’s grade up (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($38,529, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (4.4%) is left out: Salem’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Salem could be anywhere from D to C−.
What work there is in Salem: 356 jobs
356 jobs are based in Salem.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 871 → 356. 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.
The daily trip from Salem: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salem workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 617 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across West Virginia: 86% 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.
A workday in Salem: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 483 residents head out to work, 37 work right here, and 319 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Salem on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 places Salem commutes to
Where Salem clocks in
10% of workers
9% 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.
How many miles Salem commutes
About 20% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Salem
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salem is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 637 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). 10.6% of Salem households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Salem’s commuters take a bus or train.
Salem is 4,951st of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,073 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,248 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,352 | Eleanor WV | 1,497 | $79K | 5.9% | 0.6% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,949 | Merriam Woods MO | 2,084 | $52K | 25.2% | 10.8% | <1% | D |
| 4,950 | Wellington UT | 1,606 | $61K | 18.8% | 5.6% | 3% | D |
| 4,951 | Salem WV | 1,570 | $39K | 16.8% | 4.4% | 7% | D |
| 4,952 | Hammond NY | 1,245 | $73K | 28.4% | 6.0% | 12% | D |
| 4,953 | Brokenstraw Township PA | 1,654 | $50K | 14.7% | 4.2% | 14% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 West Virginia.
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?
$38,529 (±$14,698) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salem?
16.8%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salem?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salem work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bridgeport (10%, 17 mi), Clarksburg (9%, 11 mi), Fairmont (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salem walkable?
Salem is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salem without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% 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.