Salem is a medium-sized city located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 25,600 people and nine associated neighborhoods, Salem is the 39th largest community in Virginia.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Salem is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Salem is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Salem who work in office and administrative support (13.46%), sales jobs (10.88%), and management occupations (8.84%). Also of interest is that Salem has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Salem telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 9.54% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.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. The education level of Salem citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 31.14% of adults in Salem have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Salem in 2022 was $38,127, which is middle income relative to Virginia, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $152,508 for a family of four. However, Salem contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Salem is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. 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 English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scots-Irish. The most common language spoken in Salem is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
