Mount Union vs Salem

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

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

Salem has the higher population (363 vs 111 in Mount Union). Salem has the higher median household income ($59,583 vs $48,250 in Mount Union). Mount Union has the higher median home value ($84,500 vs $75,000 in Salem).

Population, income & housing

	Mount Union	Salem
Population	111	363
Median age	37.7 yrs	48.2 yrs
Median household income	$48,250	$59,583
Median home value	$84,500	$75,000
Median gross rent	—	$850
Housing units	47	155
Homeownership rate	85.1%	83.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.2%	5.2%
Unemployment rate	0.0%	1.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Mount Union	Salem
Population	153 → 111 (-27.5%)	494 → 363 (-26.5%)
Median household income	$38,542 → $48,250 (+25.2%)	$40,625 → $59,583 (+46.7%)
Median home value	$72,800 → $84,500 (+16.1%)	$60,000 → $75,000 (+25.0%)
Median gross rent	—	$645 → $850 (+31.8%)

Mount Union

Population

153111

Median household income

$38,542$48,250

Median home value

$72,800$84,500

Salem

Population

494363

Median household income

$40,625$59,583

Median home value

$60,000$75,000

Median gross rent

$645$850

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Mount Union	Salem
Under 5	1.8%	3.9%
5 to 17	32.4%	13.8%
18 to 24	4.5%	7.7%
25 to 34	3.6%	6.3%
35 to 44	18.0%	16.5%
45 to 54	9.9%	13.8%
55 to 64	8.1%	15.4%
65 to 74	13.5%	10.7%
75 and over	8.1%	11.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Mount Union	Salem
White (non-Hispanic)	100.0%	79.6%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	2.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.6%
Two or more races	0.0%	11.8%
Hispanic or Latino	0.0%	5.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Mount Union	Salem
No high school diploma	5.9%	8.1%
High school graduate	32.4%	41.7%
Some college or associate's	45.6%	45.0%
Bachelor's degree	16.2%	4.1%
Graduate or professional degree	0.0%	1.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Mount Union	Salem
Drove alone	86.5%	83.1%
Carpooled	0.0%	8.1%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	0.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	13.5%	5.2%
Other means	0.0%	2.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Mount Union	Salem
1-unit, detached	80.9%	76.8%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	14.9%	3.9%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	3.9%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	4.3%	15.5%

Poverty & households

	Mount Union	Salem
Poverty rate	9.9%	10.2%
Average household size	2.36	2.44
Mean commute (minutes)	—	26
Median year structure built	1973	1954