City · Columbiana County, Ohio

Salem, Ohio

Salem is a city in Columbiana County, Ohio, part of the Salem, OH metro area. It has 11,758 residents. Salem, Ohio has a quality-of-life score of 28 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,251 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Ohio it ranks #561 of 684 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), social associations (high) and property crime rate (low). It ranks worst on drug overdose deaths (high), dentists (low) and child poverty rate (high).

28Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,251 of 15,651 cities and towns
Ohio: #561 of 684 in OH
Population: 11,758 (2020-2024)
Land area: 7 mi²
Density: 1,788.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 3969834

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety77#3,530/15,637
Economy11#13,930/15,631
Housing72#4,200/14,977
Health19#12,668/15,609
Healthcare15#13,331/15,650
Environment51#7,524/15,453
Education40#9,451/15,649
Infrastructure33#10,511/15,650
Community37#9,934/15,651
Leisure & amenities18#12,841/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Salem, Ohio ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Columbiana County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Job growth · high2.8%
93/100Ohio -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataColumbiana County value
Social associations · high15.1 /10k
91/100Ohio 10.8 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteColumbiana County value
Property crime rate · low507 /100k
89/100Ohio 1,429 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureColumbiana County value
Drought exposure · low3%
89/100Ohio 11%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAColumbiana County value
Hot days · low4 days
88/100Ohio 11 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationColumbiana County value
Violent crime rate · low121 /100k
79/100Ohio 276 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureColumbiana County value

Weaknesses

Drug overdose deaths · high33.9 /100k
6/100Ohio 18.9 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataColumbiana County value
Dentists · low27 /100k
8/100Ohio 66 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteColumbiana County value
Child poverty rate · high32.2%
9/100Ohio 16.4%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Median household income · low$47,073
12/100Ohio $72,259United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Public EV charging ports · low1.1 /10k
13/100Ohio 4.5 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyColumbiana County value
Primary care physicians · low31 /100k
13/100Ohio 77 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteColumbiana County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
77.8% (2015-2019) → 85.2% (2020-2024)
+7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
0.7 /1k (2021) → 0.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−37%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
46.9% (2015-2019) → 51.2% (2020-2024)
+4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
27.2% (2015-2019) → 30.8% (2020-2024)
+3.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$40,134 (2015-2019) → $47,073 (2020-2024)
+17%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Unemployment rateImproving
9.1% (2015-2019) → 6.2% (2020-2024)
−2.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Salem, Ohio improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 13 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+7.4 points77.8% → 85.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Salem, Ohio between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.1 min2015-2019	21.6 min2020-2024	+2.5 min	Within the margin of error	23%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.3%2015-2019	19.8%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Broadband subscriptions	77.8%2015-2019	85.2%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Improved	46%
Child poverty rate	30.0%2015-2019	32.2%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Effective property tax rate	1.02%2015-2019	1.09%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	8%
High school diploma or higher	86.8%2015-2019	84.9%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	73%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5222015-2019	0.4782020-2024	−0.043	Within the margin of error	81%
Median household income	$40,1342015-2019	$47,0732020-2024	+17%	Within the margin of error	28%
Poverty rate	21.1%2015-2019	21.3%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Rent as share of income	27.2%2015-2019	30.8%2020-2024	+3.6 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Rent-burdened households	46.9%2015-2019	51.2%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Unemployment rate	9.1%2015-2019	6.2%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Within the margin of error	89%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.2%2015-2019	11.6%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	31%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Salem, Ohio five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Salem, Ohio in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Salem, Ohio itself moved −6.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

11,758 residents (±22)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

5,141 households (±273)

Salem, Ohio
Ohio share

Under $25k31%1,614
$25k–50k21%1,058
$50k–75k21%1,080

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

5,141 households (±273)

Salem, Ohio
Ohio share

Own57%2,946
Rent43%2,195

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

5,567 workers (±455)

Salem, Ohio
Ohio share

Drive alone82%4,579
Carpool7.3%†407
Public transit0.0%†2

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Salem, OH

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Columbiana County, the county holding most of Salem's residents.

Columbiana County has 1,907 employer establishments, 191 for every 10,000 residents (0.77× the US rate of 248; 0.88× Ohio's), with 25,092 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,613. The Census Bureau also counts 6,637 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,907; 6,637 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 191; US 248 · Ohio 216
Paid employees: 25,092
Average annual pay: $43,613; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Columbiana County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	149	14.9	0.81×About typical	2,715	$19,826	36
Ambulatory health care services	137	13.7	0.66×Fewer than typical	1,372	$50,813	242
Specialty trade contractors	113	11.3	0.73×Fewer than typical	604	$56,853	644
Religious organizations	92	9.2	1.66×More than typical	468	$16,199	—
Limited-service restaurants	80	8	1.00×About typical	1,481	$22,111	14
Truck transportation	59	5.9	1.17×About typical	921	$64,293	248
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	53	5.3	3.32×More than typical	1,549	$59,199	37
Automotive repair and maintenance	50	5	0.99×About typical	188	$38,149	136
Offices of physicians	50	5	0.77×Fewer than typical	295	$115,031	39
Full-service restaurants	45	4.5	0.59×Fewer than typical	876	$18,016	16
Services to buildings and dwellings	43	4.3	0.64×Fewer than typical	150	$39,213	433
Building equipment contractors	40	4	0.66×Fewer than typical	272	$56,691	84

Rank places for an industry Open Columbiana County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 100,060 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $1.3M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Salem, Ohio: $110 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1.3M; −41% vs FY2025
Per resident: $110; US $1,994
Sole-source: 19%; US 30%
Single offer: 55%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Defense Logistics Agency$1.1M82%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$197.2K15%
Department of the Navy$42.4K3.3%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

1.1MFY2017
1.6MFY2018
1.6MFY2019
1.3MFY2020
1.7MFY2021
1.5MFY2022
2.1MFY2023
2.8M

Top industries (NAICS)

Other fabricated metal product manufacturing · 3329$918.3K71%
General medical and surgical hospitals · 6221$197.2K15%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$39.5K3.1%
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing · 3363$28.9K2.2%
Aerospace product and parts manufacturing · 3364$22.2K1.7%
Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399$20.8K

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Salem, Ohio, so they do not add up across cities.

Salem, Ohio's figures are part of those of Columbiana County, OH and Mahoning County, OH ($22.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 5.7% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Salem is mostly in Columbiana County.

See federal money in Columbiana County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Salem, Ohio is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Michael A. RulliR-OH-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 96%Missed 5.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Columbiana County44100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Salem, OH31

Other cities and towns in Columbiana County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3969834

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends