Work & commute · Salem

Work & commute in Salem, NY

Most working residents leave Salem for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Saratoga Springs (5%), New York (4%) and Queensbury (4%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

201 of 1,079 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

23%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 878 Salem residents head out of town to work, 201 work right here, and 325 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Salem.

878live here, work elsewhere

201live and work here

325work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Salem goes to work

Salem (in town)right here

19%201

Saratoga Springs23.8 mi away

5%51

New York175.4 mi away

4%42

Queensbury22.8 mi away

4%40

Glens Falls19.3 mi away

3%37

Colonie37.3 mi away

3%36

Bennington, VT19.7 mi away

3%35

Albany41.8 mi away

3%33

Greenwich7.8 mi away

3%32

White Creek11.5 mi away

3%32

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%540

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.

27%

37%

19%

16%

27%Under 10 mi

37%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Salem is a commuter town

0.49jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Salem are

526 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

526 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Salem residents hold

1,079 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+6%

Jobs based in Salem, 2013 → 2023: 496 → 526. 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.