Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Ohio

Salem, Ohio

Salem is a small town of about 11,700 people in Columbiana County, Ohio. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Pittsburgh, is about 56 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
11,655
down 2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$119,400
Columbiana County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$47,073
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Ohio
88.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Salem Regional Medical Center
To Pittsburgh
56 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.7% below the U.S. average in the parts of Ohio outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood12 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 11.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town6 public schools: 3 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySalem Regional Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPittsburgh is about 56 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Salem meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$119,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Columbiana County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$763 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$47,073U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
57%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,343 a yearOhio: $2,822
Homes built before 1940
39%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88.3U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Ohio outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Ohio outside metro areas, not Salem alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
11,6552020: 11,890
Median age
42 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
16%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
20%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (24%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (19%); schools, health care and social services (14%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
21%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Salem Regional Medical Center, Salem, OH, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

6 public schools in Salem, run by Salem City and West Branch Local.

Colleges in or next to town: Kent State University at Salem (1,000 to 4,999 students); Allegheny Wesleyan College (under 1,000 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Ohio's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
65%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
85%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
19°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
14 a year
Nights at or below freezing
139 a year
Rain and melted snow
42.9 inches a year
Snow
32 inches a year
Elevation
1,276 feet

Weather stations: Millport 4 NE (9 miles away) and Louisville (21 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Youngstown, Pittsburgh.

Columbiana County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

9 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Salem Downtown Historic District and the South Lincoln Avenue Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • First Ladies National Historic Site28 miles
  • Cuyahoga Valley National Park37 miles
  • James A. Garfield National Historic Site59 miles

Campus life. Check Kent State University at Salem's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Salem's history on Wikipedia.

Know Salem?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Salem Heights, OH (unincorporated)256 people, 2 miles
  • Washingtonville, OH692 people, 4 miles
  • Damascus, OH (unincorporated)361 people, 5 miles
  • Guilford Lake, OH (unincorporated)1,307 people, 8 miles
  • Beloit, OH885 people, 8 miles
  • North Lima, OH (unincorporated)1,208 people, 10 miles
  • Maple Ridge, OH (unincorporated)433 people, 10 miles
  • Woodworth, OH (unincorporated)1,824 people, 11 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.