County Maps US

Salem city, Virginia

An independent city in Virginia, ranked 71 of 133 by population.

Independent cityFIPS 51775

Within Virginia
Salem city, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Salem city, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
25,816
+418 (+1.6%) since 2020
Land area
14.5
square miles. A further 0.7% of the total area is water
Population density
1,778
people per square mile, computed rather than published
Seat
Salem city
Salem city is its own seat.
Established
1802
223 years ago
Largest city
Salem city
Population 25,816.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Salem city with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Salem city, Virginia from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 690 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Salem city ranks

Position among the 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn VirginiaNationally
Population25,81671st of 1331,594th of 3,144
Land area14.5 sq mi113th of 1333,123rd of 3,144
Population density1,778 per sq mi23rd of 13384th of 3,144
Median household income$66,72569th of 1331,453rd of 3,143

Full data for Salem city

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population25,816Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202025,398Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?25,341Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area14.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area0.11 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area14.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?1,778 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$66,725American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$258,600American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age40.0American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households10,256American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units11,112American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-114
292 births, 406 deaths
Net migration
+192
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 2 areas bordering Salem city

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Roanoke CountyVirginia17 mi97,150
Roanoke cityVirginia5.3 mi99,111

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia

Open the interactive Virginia county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.