The Cherry City is a popular nickname for Salem while the official moniker for Oregon is The Beaver State.
Research website numbeo lacks sufficient data to rank Oregon’s capital on its comprehensive global quality of life rating which benchmarks 250 cities worldwide. Numbeo does evaluate Salem on several individual factors. For instance, Salem scores relatively well for traffic commute time (fastest 2%), pollution (4%), property price to income ratio (lowest 16%) and climate (best 27%). On the negative side, Salem rates relatively poorly for safety placing in the bottom 54%.
Salem’s Elsinore Theatre is a historic landmark that showcases concerts, films, plays and recitals. Previously used to accompany silent movies, the Elsinore Theatre features the biggest working pipe organ on America’s West Coast.
Guinness World Records documents Salem, Oregon as being the site where 1,203 people participated in the biggest game of Red Light/Green Light. The record was set on August 28, 2015 at Williamette University in Salem.
Salem is home to the following 10 large employers: State of Oregon, Salem-Keizer School District, Salem Health/Salem Hospital, Chemeketa Community College, Marion Country, Federal Government, City of Salem, Kaiser Permanente, Norpac Foods Incorporated and State Accident Insurance Fund.
From an international trade perspective, Oregon shipped US$23.527 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. Its valuable exports include electronic integrated circuit processors and controllers (30% of Connecticut’s global total), semiconductors-making machinery (7.1%), digital processing units (3.8%), potassium chloride (3.6%), semi-trailer road tractors (3.5%), civilian aircraft engines and other parts (3.2%), wheat (2.4%), footwear parts (1.8%), and immunological products (1.5%) according to United States Census Bureau data.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Salem was 9.6% at July 2020, up from 4.1% one year earlier.
Capital Facts for Salem, United States: Quick Reference
Geography
Capital landmarks: Bush’s Pasture Park, Bush House Museum, Deepwood Museum & Gardens, Salem Armory Auditorium and Salem’s Riverfront Carousel
Famous People
Below, you will find 10 of the most famous people born in Salem, Oregon.
- Ryan Allen, professional NFL football kicker (born Feb. 28, 1990)
- Debbie Armstrong, Olympic alpine skiing gold medalist (born Dec. 6, 1963)
- Justin Kirk, actor (born May 28, 1969)
- Mercedes Rose, actress (born Mar. 22, 1972)
- Scott Hatteberg, professional MLB baseball player (born Dec. 14, 1969)
- Michelle Taggart, Olympic halfpipe snowboarder (born May 6, 1970)
- George Andrews, mathematician (born Dec. 4, 1938)
- Kate Nauta, model & actress (born Apr. 29, 1982)
- Jess Lewis, Olympic wrestler (born Jul. 28, 1947)
- Kate Bjelland, punk singer (born Dec. 29, 1963)
Note: Data for our Famous People tab was sourced from Google searches of published Wikipedia articles specific to each person’s name.
Population
Demonym for a Salem resident: Salemite
Population: 179,944 (Salem) at September 22, 2020
Density: 3,696 people per square mile (1,427 per square kilometer)
Population: 4,301,090 (Oregon) at September 22, 2020
Density: 45 people per square mile (17 per square kilometer)
Financial
GDP: US$18.258 billion in 2018 (Salem)
GDP per person: $46,726
Note: The above GDP metrics are on a current basis and are in U.S. dollars.
Official currency used in Salem: U.S. dollars
Research
Research Sources:
Brookings Institution, Global Metro Monitor Report (includes GDP data).
City of Salem, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2016.
Dilemma X, U.S. Census Bureau metropolitan population estimates July 1, 2016.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Total Gross Domestic Product for Salem, OR (MSA).
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Unemployment Rate in Salem, OR (MSA).
Forbes Global 2000, The World’s Biggest Public Companies.
Guinness World Records, Largest game of red light/green light.
Nations Online, Capital Cities of the USA.
Numbeo, Quality of Life Index by City.
Official Government Website, City of Salem official website.
United States Census Bureau, Foreign Trade: State by 6-Digit HS Code and Top Countries.
United States Census Bureau, State Population Totals Tables: 2010-2016.
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics: Seasonally Adjusted Metropolitan Area Estimates.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gross Domestic Product by Metropolitan Area, 2015 (Tables Only).
Wikimedia Commons, Salem city flag.
Wikipedia, Oregon.
Wikipedia, List of Metropolitan Statistical Areas.
Wikipedia, Salem, Oregon.
Wikipedia, Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area.
World Population Review, Salem, Oregon Population.
Salemites celebrate Independence Day as a national holiday each July 4.
Salem’s land area occupies 48.68 square miles (126.09 square kilometers). The state capital’s population was 179,944 Salemites at September 22, 2020.
At the state level, Oregon’s land area measures 95,997 square miles (248,849 square kilometers) home to 4.3 million people.
Salem’s population density is more concentrated averaging 3,696 residents per square mile (1,427 per square kilometer).
Zooming out to Oregon state’s land boundaries, population density drops to an average 45 inhabitants per square mile (17 per square kilometer).
