Salem, OR
Salem, OR Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Salem, OR Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Salem ranks 156th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 90th for income. A household earns $82,732 a year while median rent runs $1,526/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 4% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is air quality (19th of 300), while cost of living is the soft spot (265th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 214th and home prices 240th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Salem, your take-home is worth about $53,358 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 90th of 300↑25.9%$82,732
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 265th of 300104 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $79,819
- Per-capita income
- $37,942
- Full-time pay
- $43,102
Housing
- Median rent
- 214th of 300↑40.9%$1,526/mo
- Home value
- 240th of 300↑51.5%$447,000
- Property tax
- $3,516/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 0.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 230th of 3005.3%
- Bachelor's+
- 230th of 30027.2%
- Avg commute
- 175th of 30024.8 min
People
- Population
- 443,416
- Population change
- +2.2%
- Median age
- 38.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 12.4%
- Broadband
- 92.2%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 19th of 30035
- Natural-hazard loss
- 198th of 300$15/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 211th of 30020.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 11.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Household income
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — salem ap (mcnary field).
What jobs pay in Salem
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $295,170
- Pharmacists
- $169,210
- IT managers
- $158,390
- Lawyers
- $156,070
- Financial managers
- $141,400
- Registered nurses
- $131,750
- Software developers
- $131,620
- Civil engineers
- $115,480
- General & operations managers
- $114,430
- Electricians
- $98,850
- Accountants & auditors
- $87,480
- Police officers
- $84,320
- Plumbers
- $80,610
- Secondary school teachers
- $77,810
- Elementary school teachers
- $74,810
- Web developers
- $64,460
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,580
- Carpenters
- $59,730
- Construction laborers
- $54,500
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $53,090
- Waiters & waitresses
- $48,720
- Customer service reps
- $47,790
- Janitors
- $38,340
- Retail salespersons
- $35,760
- Cashiers
- $34,340
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Salem metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Oregon are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California2,260
- Washington2,128
- Idaho609
- Arizona435
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Salem
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Salem metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Salem metro?
- Median gross rent across the Salem, OR Metro Area is $1,526 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Salem.
- What is the median household income in the Salem metro?
- A typical household in the Salem, OR Metro Area earns $82,732 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Salem expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Salem, OR Metro Area runs about 4% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Salem metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $79,819 (versus its face value of $82,732). CityLedger rates the Salem, OR Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Salem metro?
- The median home value across the Salem, OR Metro Area is $447,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Salem metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Salem, OR Metro Area is 5.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).