Salem
A walkable, ferry-served port city with the state's most distinctive cultural identity.
The numbers
How Salem scores
Who lives in Salem
U.S. Census ACS 2018–2022 estimates. Rounded.
Schools in Salem
Salem School District. Massachusetts DESE FY2024 (FY2025 graduation rates).
Source: Massachusetts DESE Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub. Percentile ranks against 194 MA towns in our index.
The honest read
You've now seen the honest read. Here's what most sites don't give you.
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Compare on your terms
These scores reflect a neutral weighting. Your priorities are not neutral. Open the full atlas to tune schools, walkability, affordability, commute, and seven more dimensions, and see where Salem lands for you.
Nearby towns
Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Salem.
Salem appears in
Rankings where Salem qualifies on the data. See where it lands vs the other 14 picks.
Popular comparisons
Common head‑to‑heads people search when looking at Salem.
Want my honest read on Salem?
I'm Gary Fikes, a licensed real estate agent at MP Signature Realty and the curator of this site. Tell me what you're looking for and I'll reply personally within 1 business day. No auto-dialer, no spam, no resale.