Salem city, Virginia: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+19%. Republican peak: R+52 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+19MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 25,6182024 5-year
- Median household income
- $66,7252024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 82.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 8.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+2 in 1976MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Roanoke County, VA · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Salem cityPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Salem city, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | No data |
| 1908 | No data |
| 1912 | No data |
| 1916 | No data |
| 1920 | No data |
| 1924 | No data |
| 1928 | No data |
| 1932 | No data |
| 1936 | No data |
| 1940 | No data |
| 1944 | No data |
| 1948 | No data |
| 1952 | No data |
| 1956 | No data |
| 1960 | No data |
| 1964 | −30.9% |
| 1968 | −37.8% |
| 1972 | −51.7% |
| 1976 | +2.4% |
| 1980 | −8.2% |
| 1984 | −31.3% |
| 1988 | −20.3% |
| 1992 | −10.5% |
| 1996 | −6.5% |
| 2000 | −17.1% |
| 2004 | −24.9% |
| 2008 | −15.5% |
| 2012 | −20.6% |
| 2016 | −24.7% |
| 2020 | −19.4% |
| 2024 | −19.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,237 | 7,769 | 13,207 | ||
| R | 5,148 | 7,683 | 13,051 | ||
| R | 4,202 | 7,226 | 12,225 | ||
| R | 4,760 | 7,299 | 12,318 | ||
| R | 5,164 | 7,088 | 12,406 | ||
| R | 4,254 | 7,115 | 11,484 | ||
| R | 4,348 | 6,188 | 10,770 | ||
| R | 4,282 | 4,936 | 10,079 | ||
| R | 4,028 | 5,143 | 10,669 | ||
| R | 3,760 | 5,694 | 9,527 | ||
| R | 3,347 | 6,419 | 9,810 | ||
| R | 4,091 | 4,862 | 9,389 | ||
| D | 4,404 | 4,196 | 8,690 | ||
| R | 1,744 | 5,649 | 7,553 | ||
| R | 1,369 | 3,955 | 6,846 | ||
| R | 636 | 1,206 | 1,843 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
15.9%
American
10.9%
German
10.3%
Irish
8.8%
Scottish
2.4%
Italian
2.1%
French
1.6%
African American
7.0%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 40.0 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$66,725
Salem city ranks near the middle of US counties.
Salem city$66,725
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Salem city ranks near the middle of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.2%
Working age (18–64)8.6%
Seniors (65+)9.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.2%
speak English only
Spanish2.2%
Other Indo-European1.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.9%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 25.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Salem functions as an independent jurisdiction separate from Roanoke County, and its roughly 25,000 residents have returned Republican presidential margins near or above 20 points in recent cycles, reflecting a mid-size Appalachian urban core that trends reliably conservative.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-two points in 1972. The 2024 margin was nineteen points.
A population of 25,618, a 83% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $66,725 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Roanoke County and Comanche County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Salem city, Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/51775/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Virginia
More stable rural right counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Salem city, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Salem city, Virginia voted Republican by 19.2 points (R+19), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 13,207 votes cast, 5,237 went Democratic and 7,769 went Republican.
What is Salem city, Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Salem city, Virginia in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 1 times, Republican 15 times, and other 0 times.
When did Salem city, Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Salem city, Virginia voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Salem city, Virginia?
Salem city, Virginia has a population of 25,618 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Salem city, Virginia?
Median household income in Salem city, Virginia is $66,725 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Salem city, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Salem city, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 1 went Democratic and 15 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.