Work & commute · Salem

Work & commute in Salem, MO

Most working residents leave Salem for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Kennett (12%), Paragould (9%) and Senath (8%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

116 of 876 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 760 Salem residents head out of town to work, 116 work right here, and 432 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Salem.

760live here, work elsewhere

116live and work here

432work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Salem goes to work

Kennett11.9 mi away

12%101

Paragould, AR18.6 mi away

9%80

Senath2.2 mi away

8%69

Blytheville, AR19.8 mi away

6%56

Salem (in town)right here

4%39

Clay7.2 mi away

2%19

Gosnell, AR15.7 mi away

2%18

Poplar Bluff47 mi away

1%13

Cape Girardeau90 mi away

1%12

Hornersville6.1 mi away

1%10

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%459

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.

29%

34%

29%

29%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Salem is a commuter town

0.63jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.63 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Salem are

548 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

548 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Salem residents hold

876 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)38%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)43%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−14%

Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 640 → 548. 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.