County profile
Salem city, Virginia
United States · US territory
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP
no BEA GDP
GDP growth (YoY)
1 yr only
Jobs tracked
19,148
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
994
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$60.1k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
25,816
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.9%
Median HH income
$66.7k±$6.3k
Bachelor's degree+
33.0%±3.0%
Poverty rate
10.2%±2.5%
Business applications
280 · 2025
Retail establishments
133
51.7/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Health care35%
Manufacturing18%
Wholesale trade16%
Retail trade13%
Food & accommodation12%
Construction6%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
25,816
residents · 2025 · +1.6% since 2020
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+486
International migration+410
Natural change−494
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$258.6k±$12.5k
Median gross rent
$1.1k/mo±$59/mo
Vacancy rate
7.7%±2.0%
Affordability
4.3× wages
Residential permits
$6.0M
17 units · 0.7/1k pop
FEMA risk score
18.6
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.3k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Hurricane 58Earthquake 49Strong wind 36
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
3552016
3682017
3742018
3992019
4082020
4442021
5062022
5592023
6062024
6252025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
02021
352022
1172023
2682024
172025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
2.1 km
I-81
Nearest freight rail
0.2 km
NS
Nearest port
142.9 km
ELKHEM METALS CO., ALLOY DOCK
Nearest commercial airport
8.7 km
ROANOKE/BLACKSBURG RGNL (WOODRUM FLD)
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$60.1k
avg. annual pay · +21% since 2019
Nearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is Salem city’s economy like?
Salem city is home to 25,816 residents and 19,148 jobs across 994 employers, led by health care. BEA does not publish state-level GDP for US territories, so no GDP figure is shown.
GDP: BEA (2025), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.