Salem, Virginia

85% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 83% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.4 students for every full-time teacher across 11 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

47.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Virginia’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 25,908 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 17 units authorized in 2025, 94% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 28 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, strong wind and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 76% of it. Every one of these is independently rated low or minimal nationally — this describes how a small risk is composed, not a large one.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 79% of measured US cities.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Salem's police department reported 153 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,187.

Salem city records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 13.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 21.1 per 100,000 residents in Salem city.

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Salem’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Salem (Salem city) rather than Salem itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Piedmont Triad Intl at 82 miles.

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.