Salem is a very small city located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 1,496 people and three associated neighborhoods, Salem is the 125th largest community in West Virginia. Much of the housing stock in Salem was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.Unlike some cities, Salem isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Salem are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Salem is a city of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Salem who work in sales jobs (16.02%), maintenance occupations (15.42%), and office and administrative support (11.08%).In addition, Salem is a college town. There are a lot of students in Salem attending college, and as a result Salem provides a number of services, amenities and opportunities geared to the needs and activities of students. Being a small city, Salem does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.The citizens of Salem are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 21.59% of adults in Salem having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree. The per capita income in Salem in 2022 was $20,236, which is lower middle income relative to West Virginia, and low income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $80,944 for a family of four. However, Salem contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. The people who call Salem home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Salem residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Salem include German, English, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Salem is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
