About Salem

Salem is a tiny town located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 112 people and just one neighborhood, Salem is the 270th largest community in South Carolina.

Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Salem is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 36.7% of the Salem workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 24.7%. Overall, Salem is a town of construction workers and builders, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Salem who work in office and administrative support jobs (14.29%), teaching (10.20%), and management occupations (8.16%).

Seniors make up 28.57% of Salem's population, making it a popular place to retire. Because of the prominence of the retirement community, Salem is good place for those over 65 to settle, as they will find many opportunities for socializing, as well as having access to many services oriented toward seniors.

Salem is very much a car-oriented town. This is because the population of Salem isn't large enough or dense enough to support an extensive public transit system. It has a lot of rural roads, and the distance between houses can be quite large, which together tends to discourage walking and bicycling to work. 97.96% of residents commute to work in their own car (and the drive is typically to a job out of town). People also tend to drive out of town for other services as well, such as shopping, doctors appointments, and more.

Being a small town, Salem does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

Salem Information and Demographics

The population of Salem overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 14.96%. Of adults 25 and older in Salem, 17.50% have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Salem in 2000 was $14,980, which is middle income relative to South Carolina, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $59,920 for a family of four.

The people who call Salem home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Salem is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Salem include Irish, German, and English.

The most common language spoken in Salem is English. Some people also speak Chinese.