Rutherford College vs Salem

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

Rutherford College 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 1,327 in Rutherford College). Salem has the higher median household income ($66,653 vs $63,000 in Rutherford College). Rutherford College has the higher median home value ($196,600 vs $159,300 in Salem).

Population, income & housing

	Rutherford College	Salem
Population	1,327	2,035
Median age	43.0 yrs	42.8 yrs
Median household income	$63,000	$66,653
Median home value	$196,600	$159,300
Median gross rent	$1,028	$772
Housing units	651	1,106
Homeownership rate	72.3%	74.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	28.3%	20.9%
Unemployment rate	1.9%	7.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Rutherford College	Salem
Population	1,286 → 1,327 (+3.2%)	1,757 → 2,035 (+15.8%)
Median household income	$43,919 → $63,000 (+43.4%)	$49,375 → $66,653 (+35.0%)
Median home value	$162,500 → $196,600 (+21.0%)	$134,900 → $159,300 (+18.1%)
Median gross rent	$608 → $1,028 (+69.1%)	$622 → $772 (+24.1%)

Rutherford College

Population

1,2861,327

Median household income

$43,919$63,000

Median home value

$162,500$196,600

Median gross rent

$608$1,028

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)

	Rutherford College	Salem
Under 5	7.2%	9.4%
5 to 17	11.5%	10.9%
18 to 24	11.1%	3.8%
25 to 34	12.8%	12.6%
35 to 44	10.4%	14.5%
45 to 54	8.2%	9.6%
55 to 64	20.7%	12.6%
65 to 74	10.1%	17.3%
75 and over	8.0%	9.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Rutherford College	Salem
White (non-Hispanic)	84.2%	77.4%
Black or African American	0.0%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	7.4%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	1.6%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.1%	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	5.4%	15.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Rutherford College	Salem
No high school diploma	8.8%	14.6%
High school graduate	29.8%	27.9%
Some college or associate's	33.0%	36.6%
Bachelor's degree	22.4%	16.8%
Graduate or professional degree	5.9%	4.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Rutherford College	Salem
Drove alone	94.9%	75.6%
Carpooled	3.1%	23.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	2.0%	0.0%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Rutherford College	Salem
1-unit, detached	77.4%	73.4%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	6.5%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	5.5%	2.1%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	10.6%	15.5%

Poverty & households

	Rutherford College	Salem
Poverty rate	10.9%	19.9%
Average household size	2.37	2.21
Mean commute (minutes)	23	19
Median year structure built	1975	1977