Salem is a very small city located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 1,474 people and three associated neighborhoods, Salem is the 125th largest community in West Virginia. Salem has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.Salem is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 85.24% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. 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 maintenance occupations (20.88%), sales jobs (11.62%), and food service (8.16%).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. In terms of college education, the citizens of Salem rank slightly lower than the national average. 13.90% of adults 25 and older in Salem have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, while 21.84% of adults have a 4-year degree or higher in the average American community. The per capita income in Salem in 2022 was $21,304, which is low income relative to West Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $85,216 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 Irish, German, English, Italian, and Scottish. The most common language spoken in Salem is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and West Germanic languages.
