Salem vs Westwood

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

Salem and Westwood 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 104 in Westwood). Westwood has the higher median household income ($117,083 vs $59,583 in Salem). Westwood has the higher median home value ($258,900 vs $75,000 in Salem).

Population, income & housing

	Salem	Westwood
Population	363	104
Median age	48.2 yrs	54.0 yrs
Median household income	$59,583	$117,083
Median home value	$75,000	$258,900
Median gross rent	$850	—
Housing units	155	49
Homeownership rate	83.2%	100.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	5.2%	43.5%
Unemployment rate	1.7%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Salem	Westwood
Population	494 → 363 (-26.5%)	97 → 104 (+7.2%)
Median household income	$40,625 → $59,583 (+46.7%)	$95,833 → $117,083 (+22.2%)
Median home value	$60,000 → $75,000 (+25.0%)	$207,500 → $258,900 (+24.8%)
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

Westwood

Population

97104

Median household income

$95,833$117,083

Median home value

$207,500$258,900

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Salem	Westwood
Under 5	3.9%	1.9%
5 to 17	13.8%	12.5%
18 to 24	7.7%	3.8%
25 to 34	6.3%	4.8%
35 to 44	16.5%	13.5%
45 to 54	13.8%	15.4%
55 to 64	15.4%	28.8%
65 to 74	10.7%	11.5%
75 and over	11.8%	7.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Salem	Westwood
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	Westwood
No high school diploma	8.1%	2.4%
High school graduate	41.7%	17.6%
Some college or associate's	45.0%	36.5%
Bachelor's degree	4.1%	18.8%
Graduate or professional degree	1.1%	24.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Salem	Westwood
Drove alone	83.1%	76.1%
Carpooled	8.1%	6.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.6%	3.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.2%	14.9%
Other means	2.9%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Salem	Westwood
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	Westwood
Poverty rate	10.2%	0.0%
Average household size	2.44	2.12
Mean commute (minutes)	26	24
Median year structure built	1954	1973