Welcome to Salem ...
The coastal city of Salem is located in Essex County<1> and is the County Seat for Essex County.
Salem was settled in 1626.
When the people of Salem refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Salemite<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Salem has a population of 43,299 people<3> (see below for details).
The community of Salem is near sea level<4>.
Time Zone: Salem lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Telephone area codes for Salem: (978) and (351)<5>
The ZIP codes for Salem: 01970-01971<6>
Websites for Salem ...
Official Website: www.salemcouncil.com/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Salem had an population of 43,299 people. This is an increase of 4.74% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 7.16% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Salem had a population of 41,340 people (which is 5.56% of the total population of Essex County). This makes Salem the county's 6th most populous community.
The population of Salem represents 0.63% of the total population of Massachusetts (which has 6,547,629 people), making it the state's 33rd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 41,340 people, the population of Salem increased 2.31% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 40,407 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Salem.
Communities Also Named Salem ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 122 communities that are also named Salem - they are located in Alabama (4), Arkansas (5), Connecticut, Florida, Georgia (8), Idaho, Illinois (2), Indiana (4), Iowa, Kansas (7), Kentucky (4), Maine, Maryland, Michigan (2), Mississippi (6), Missouri (4), Montana, Nebraska, New Brunswick (2), New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina (8), Nova Scotia, Ohio (7), Oklahoma (3), Ontario (6), Oregon, Pennsylvania (4), South Carolina (4), South Dakota, Tennessee (7), Texas (8), Utah, Virginia (5), West Virginia (3), Wisconsin (2) and Wyoming.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Salem.
Communities near Salem ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Salem.
- Boston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
- Boston is located in Suffolk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 691,531 people
- Cambridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
- Cambridge is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119,192 people
- Quincy
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
- Quincy is located in Norfolk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 94,421 people
- Somerville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Somerville is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80,935 people
- Lawrence
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
- Lawrence is located in Essex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80,007 people
- Waltham
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltham
- Waltham is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62,069 people
- Medford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford
- Medford is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 60,847 people
- Malden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malden
- Malden is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59,922 people
- Brookline
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline
- Brookline is located in Norfolk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59,022 people
- Revere
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Revere
- Revere is located in Suffolk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 52,375 people
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Salem. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Salem.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Salem. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Salem.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Salem. Our list includes 132 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Salem.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Salem ...
Looking for more information about Salem? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Salem, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Salem.
Adding Salem to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Salem in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Salem was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Salem post office opened in 1773.
We also found Salem in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Salem.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Salem: www.salemcouncil.com/
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Massachusetts' counties, including Essex, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Salem refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Salem may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Salem. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Salem - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | Area code (351) is an overlay for area code (978). |
| <6> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Salem). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Salem or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Salem includes: 01970 & 01971. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |