Salem is a somewhat small coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New Jersey. With a population of 5,325 people and five associated neighborhoods, Salem is the 305th largest community in New Jersey. Much of the housing stock in Salem was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

A relatively large number of people in Salem telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 12.70% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One of the nice things about Salem is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

For a small city, Salem has a lot of people who use public transit to get to work, and those that do mostly ride taxis. This suggests that a real need for low-cost transportation in Salem exists, and local transit is helping to meet that need.

The percentage of people in Salem with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 21.84%: just 12.73% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Salem in 2022 was $24,371, which is low income relative to New Jersey and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $97,484 for a family of four. However, Salem contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Salem also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 31.21% of its population below the federal poverty line.

Salem is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Salem home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Salem residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Salem include Irish, Italian, German, English, and French.

The most common language spoken in Salem is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.