Welcome to Salem ...

The city of Salem is primarily located in Marion County<1>. It is the County Seat and the capital of Oregon. A portion of Salem extends into Polk County.

Salem was established in 1842.

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 174,129 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Salem is 180 feet [55 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Salem lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Websites for Salem ...

Official Website: www.cityofsalem.net/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Salem had an population of 174,129 people. This is an increase of 12.61% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 27.17% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Salem had a population of 154,637 people (which is 49.04% of the total population of Marion County). This makes Salem the county's most populous community.

The population of Salem represents 4.04% of the population of Oregon (which has 3,831,074 people), making it the state's 3rd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 154,637 people, the population of Salem increased 12.94% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 136,924 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, Massachusetts, 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), 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.

• Woodburn
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodburn have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodburn
  • Woodburn is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,175 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodburn <6>
• Dallas
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dallas have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
  • Dallas is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,331 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dallas <6>
• Independence
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
  • Independence is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,871 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Independence <6>
• Silverton
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverton have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverton
  • Silverton is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,617 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silverton <6>
• Monmouth
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monmouth
  • Monmouth is located in Polk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,615 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monmouth <6>
• Stayton
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stayton have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stayton
  • Stayton is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,256 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stayton <6>
• Aumsville
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aumsville
  • Aumsville is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,202 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aumsville <6>
• Mount Angel
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Angel
  • Mount Angel is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,650 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Angel <6>
• Jefferson
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
  • Jefferson is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,386 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jefferson <6>
• Sublimity
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sublimity have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublimity
  • Sublimity is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,784 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sublimity <6>

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 76 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.

In addition to the Tourism page for Salem, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on 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 book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).

We also found Salem in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Salem.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Salem: www.cityofsalem.net/

The official website for Marion County: www.co.marion.or.us/

The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/