Work & commute · Salem

Work & commute in Salem, MA

Most working residents leave Salem for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (18%), Beverly (6%) and Danvers (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

3,521 of 20,968 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 17,447 Salem residents head out of town to work, 3,521 work right here, and 13,783 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Salem.

17,447live here, work elsewhere

3,521live and work here

13,783work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Salem goes to work

Boston12.9 mi away

18%3,804

Salem (in town)right here

17%3,521

Beverly4.8 mi away

6%1,337

Danvers5.8 mi away

5%1,041

Peabody4.3 mi away

5%1,040

Lynn3.6 mi away

5%1,030

Cambridge14.1 mi away

3%663

Marblehead2.1 mi away

2%483

Woburn13.1 mi away

2%393

Gloucester14 mi away

2%371

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%7,285

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Salem commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

47%

43%

47%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Salem is balanced between jobs and homes

0.83jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.83 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Salem are

17,304 jobs are based in Salem. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Salem’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Salem

17,304 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Salem residents hold

20,968 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month69%

−6%

Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 18,409 → 17,304. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.