Salem vs Swedesburg

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

Salem and Swedesburg 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 87 in Swedesburg). Swedesburg has the higher median household income ($72,083 vs $59,583 in Salem). Swedesburg has the higher median home value ($170,800 vs $75,000 in Salem).

Population, income & housing

	Salem	Swedesburg
Population	363	87
Median age	48.2 yrs	33.5 yrs
Median household income	$59,583	$72,083
Median home value	$75,000	$170,800
Median gross rent	$850	—
Housing units	155	27
Homeownership rate	83.2%	100.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	5.2%	42.6%
Unemployment rate	1.7%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Salem	Swedesburg
Population	494 → 363 (-26.5%)	175 → 87 (-50.3%)
Median household income	$40,625 → $59,583 (+46.7%)	—
Median home value	$60,000 → $75,000 (+25.0%)	$63,200 → $170,800 (+170.3%)
Median gross rent	$645 → $850 (+31.8%)	—

Salem

Population

494363

Median household income

$40,625$59,583

Median home value

$60,000$75,000

Median gross rent

$645$850

Swedesburg

Population

17587

Median home value

$63,200$170,800

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Salem	Swedesburg
Under 5	3.9%	6.9%
5 to 17	13.8%	29.9%
18 to 24	7.7%	9.2%
25 to 34	6.3%	8.0%
35 to 44	16.5%	8.0%
45 to 54	13.8%	31.0%
55 to 64	15.4%	0.0%
65 to 74	10.7%	0.0%
75 and over	11.8%	6.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

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

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Salem	Swedesburg
No high school diploma	8.1%	0.0%
High school graduate	41.7%	0.0%
Some college or associate's	45.0%	57.4%
Bachelor's degree	4.1%	42.6%
Graduate or professional degree	1.1%	0.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Salem	Swedesburg
Drove alone	83.1%	100.0%
Carpooled	8.1%	0.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.6%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.2%	0.0%
Other means	2.9%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Salem	Swedesburg
1-unit, detached	76.8%	100.0%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	3.9%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	3.9%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	15.5%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Salem	Swedesburg
Poverty rate	10.2%	0.0%
Average household size	2.44	3.22
Mean commute (minutes)	26	35
Median year structure built	1954	1938