Salem vs Thomaston

A side-by-side comparison of Salem and Thomaston: population, income, housing, and more.

Salem and Thomaston are places in Georgia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Thomaston has the higher population (9,798 vs 372 in Salem). Thomaston has the higher median home value ($146,100 vs $90,400 in Salem). Since 2019, Thomaston's population has grown faster (+11.7% vs -2.6%).

Population, income & housing

	Salem	Thomaston
Population	372	9,798
Median age	57.1 yrs	38.0 yrs
Median household income	—	$36,571
Median home value	$90,400	$146,100
Median gross rent	$473	$700
Housing units	170	4,646
Homeownership rate	60.6%	37.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.9%	17.2%
Unemployment rate	0.0%	4.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Salem	Thomaston
Population	382 → 372 (-2.6%)	8,774 → 9,798 (+11.7%)
Median household income	$31,591 → $36,618 (+15.9%)	$28,906 → $36,571 (+26.5%)
Median home value	$45,500 → $90,400 (+98.7%)	$88,900 → $146,100 (+64.3%)
Median gross rent	$434 → $473 (+9.0%)	$626 → $700 (+11.8%)

Salem

Population

382372

Median household income

$31,591$36,618

Median home value

$45,500$90,400

Median gross rent

$434$473

Thomaston

Population

8,7749,798

Median household income

$28,906$36,571

Median home value

$88,900$146,100

Median gross rent

$626$700

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Salem	Thomaston
Under 5	3.8%	6.8%
5 to 17	13.2%	19.0%
18 to 24	8.9%	5.4%
25 to 34	3.8%	16.2%
35 to 44	12.9%	11.7%
45 to 54	5.9%	8.6%
55 to 64	31.5%	14.3%
65 to 74	11.0%	9.6%
75 and over	9.1%	8.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Salem	Thomaston
White (non-Hispanic)	2.2%	54.5%
Black or African American	94.9%	36.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.0%	4.3%
Hispanic or Latino	3.0%	4.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Salem	Thomaston
No high school diploma	39.5%	15.7%
High school graduate	22.1%	35.4%
Some college or associate's	23.6%	31.8%
Bachelor's degree	13.8%	13.5%
Graduate or professional degree	1.1%	3.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Salem	Thomaston
Drove alone	71.8%	79.3%
Carpooled	2.2%	8.1%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	26.0%	6.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	0.0%	4.2%
Other means	0.0%	2.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Salem	Thomaston
1-unit, detached	59.4%	65.3%
1-unit, attached	5.9%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	0.0%	21.7%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	8.2%
20 or more units	0.0%	3.4%
Mobile home & other	34.7%	1.2%

Poverty & households

	Salem	Thomaston
Poverty rate	13.7%	34.2%
Average household size	2.19	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	25	21
Median year structure built	1993	1964