El Dara vs New Salem

A side-by-side comparison of El Dara and New Salem: population, income, housing, and more.

El Dara and New Salem are places in Illinois. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

New Salem has the higher population (131 vs 100 in El Dara). New Salem has the higher median home value ($118,800 vs $71,700 in El Dara). Since 2019, El Dara's population has grown faster (+38.9% vs -51.7%).

Population, income & housing

	El Dara	New Salem
Population	100	131
Median age	29.0 yrs	23.5 yrs
Median household income	$56,667	—
Median home value	$71,700	$118,800
Median gross rent	—	$667
Housing units	31	58
Homeownership rate	80.0%	60.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.5%	21.5%
Unemployment rate	0.0%	5.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	El Dara	New Salem
Population	72 → 100 (+38.9%)	271 → 131 (-51.7%)
Median household income	$96,964 → $56,667 (-41.6%)	$47,778 → $57,292 (+19.9%)
Median home value	$47,000 → $71,700 (+52.6%)	$83,200 → $118,800 (+42.8%)
Median gross rent	—	$671 → $667 (-0.6%)

El Dara

Population

72100

Median household income

$96,964$56,667

Median home value

$47,000$71,700

New Salem

Population

271131

Median household income

$47,778$57,292

Median home value

$83,200$118,800

Median gross rent

$671$667

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	El Dara	New Salem
Under 5	19.0%	13.7%
5 to 17	24.0%	33.6%
18 to 24	6.0%	3.1%
25 to 34	3.0%	17.6%
35 to 44	10.0%	19.8%
45 to 54	28.0%	0.8%
55 to 64	4.0%	3.1%
65 to 74	6.0%	1.5%
75 and over	0.0%	6.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	El Dara	New Salem
White (non-Hispanic)	91.0%	94.7%
Black or African American	7.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.0%	5.3%
Hispanic or Latino	0.0%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	El Dara	New Salem
No high school diploma	21.6%	7.7%
High school graduate	41.2%	41.5%
Some college or associate's	13.7%	29.2%
Bachelor's degree	17.6%	21.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.9%	0.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	El Dara	New Salem
Drove alone	30.0%	67.3%
Carpooled	60.0%	2.0%
Public transit	0.0%	10.2%
Walked	0.0%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	10.0%	18.4%
Other means	0.0%	2.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	El Dara	New Salem
1-unit, detached	96.8%	94.8%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	0.0%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	3.2%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	5.2%

Poverty & households

	El Dara	New Salem
Poverty rate	12.0%	18.3%
Average household size	5.00	2.91
Mean commute (minutes)	—	22
Median year structure built	1938	1940