Drexel vs Salem

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

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

Salem has the higher population (2,035 vs 1,862 in Drexel). Salem has the higher median household income ($66,653 vs $58,824 in Drexel). Drexel has the higher median home value ($204,600 vs $159,300 in Salem).

Population, income & housing

	Drexel	Salem
Population	1,862	2,035
Median age	47.5 yrs	42.8 yrs
Median household income	$58,824	$66,653
Median home value	$204,600	$159,300
Median gross rent	$625	$772
Housing units	869	1,106
Homeownership rate	70.3%	74.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.2%	20.9%
Unemployment rate	13.1%	7.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Drexel	Salem
Population	1,862 → 1,862 (+0.0%)	1,757 → 2,035 (+15.8%)
Median household income	$42,703 → $58,824 (+37.8%)	$49,375 → $66,653 (+35.0%)
Median home value	$115,000 → $204,600 (+77.9%)	$134,900 → $159,300 (+18.1%)
Median gross rent	$677 → $625 (-7.7%)	$622 → $772 (+24.1%)

Drexel

Population

1,8621,862

Median household income

$42,703$58,824

Median home value

$115,000$204,600

Median gross rent

$677$625

Salem

Population

1,7572,035

Median household income

$49,375$66,653

Median home value

$134,900$159,300

Median gross rent

$622$772

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Drexel	Salem
Under 5	4.2%	9.4%
5 to 17	12.4%	10.9%
18 to 24	5.6%	3.8%
25 to 34	14.7%	12.6%
35 to 44	8.9%	14.5%
45 to 54	13.1%	9.6%
55 to 64	17.7%	12.6%
65 to 74	15.1%	17.3%
75 and over	8.2%	9.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Drexel	Salem
White (non-Hispanic)	87.0%	77.4%
Black or African American	2.9%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	2.8%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.3%	1.6%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.9%	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	3.0%	15.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Drexel	Salem
No high school diploma	14.1%	14.6%
High school graduate	31.0%	27.9%
Some college or associate's	34.7%	36.6%
Bachelor's degree	13.4%	16.8%
Graduate or professional degree	6.8%	4.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Drexel	Salem
Drove alone	87.5%	75.6%
Carpooled	8.2%	23.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	4.3%	0.0%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Drexel	Salem
1-unit, detached	72.0%	73.4%
1-unit, attached	0.8%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	10.4%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	10.8%	2.1%
20 or more units	0.8%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	5.2%	15.5%

Poverty & households

	Drexel	Salem
Poverty rate	12.9%	19.9%
Average household size	2.29	2.21
Mean commute (minutes)	24	19
Median year structure built	1974	1977