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. Salem has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, 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%).Salem is also a college town, where lots of students live while attending area colleges. Because of the high percentage of people living in Salem enrolled in college, Salem has a number of services, amenities and opportunities geared towards 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 education level of Salem citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 21.59% of adults in Salem have at least a bachelor's 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.
