Work & commute · Salem

Work & commute in Salem, NH

Most working residents leave Salem for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Manchester (6%), Nashua (5%) and Andover (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

2,783 of 16,118 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 13,335 Salem residents head out of town to work, 2,783 work right here, and 18,765 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Salem.

13,335live here, work elsewhere

2,783live and work here

18,765work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Salem goes to work

Salem (in town)right here

17%2,783

Manchester17.7 mi away

6%997

Nashua13.9 mi away

5%779

Andover, MA10.1 mi away

4%656

Boston, MA33.2 mi away

4%608

Lawrence, MA6.8 mi away

3%563

Methuen, MA3.8 mi away

3%451

Londonderry10.7 mi away

3%450

Lowell, MA11.5 mi away

2%353

Portsmouth29.2 mi away

2%346

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%8,132

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.

38%

40%

17%

38%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Salem is balanced between jobs and homes

1.34jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.34 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Salem are

21,548 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

21,548 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities36%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Salem residents hold

16,118 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+2%

Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 21,118 → 21,548. 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.