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Welcome to Salem ...

The city of Salem is located in Salem County<1> and is the County Seat for Salem County.

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 4,703 people<3> (see below for details).

Salem is near sea level<4>.

Time Zone: Salem lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Salem: (856)

The ZIP code for Salem: 08079<5>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Salem, you might get a feel for its origin by knowing that their post office opened  in 1792.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Salem had an population of 4,703 people. This is a decrease of 8.61% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 19.7% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Salem had a population of 5,146 people (which is 7.79% of the total population of Salem County). This makes Salem the county's most populous community.

The population of Salem represents 0.06% of the total population of New Jersey (which has 8,791,894 people), making it the state's 59th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 5,146 people, the population of Salem decreased 12.14% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 5,857 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 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.

  • Wilmington
  • Newark
  • Middletown
  • Bridgeton
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
    • Bridgeton lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<6> to the southeast of Salem.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,635 people
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Bridgeton
  • Elsmere
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsmere
    • Elsmere lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<6> to the northwest of Salem.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,761 people
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Elsmere
  • New Castle
  • Townsend
  • Marcus Hook
  • Delaware City
  • Trainer
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trainer
    • Trainer lies 18 miles [29 km]<6> to the north of Salem.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,823 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trainer have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Trainer

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 16 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 that we've found for Salem was the List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9> From that list, the Salem post office opened in 1792.

We also found Salem in the U.S. Post Offices (1803).

For more details about the above, see References and Mentions for Salem.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Salem. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Salem County: www.salemco.org/

The official website for State of New Jersey: https://www.state.nj.us/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of New Jersey's counties, including Salem, 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>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).
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Salem) to Point B.If you need the driving distance (or directions), we recommend that you use one of the Mapping Services listed on our Map Page for Salem. Since we usually use Google Maps, we've provided the following link for your convenience: Google Map and Driving Directions starting from SalemOur distance measurements begin at a specific point in Salem. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5719, Longitude: -75.4670    
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<9>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

 

 

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This page was last modified/updated: 24 May 2023