Salem, Oregon
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Salem census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97301. It stands on Clark Creek. The Survey maps it on the Salem West quadrangle. 175,535 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,532 feet above sea level.
On record in Salem
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 12 of 69 shown
Adolph Blocklisted 1980
Samuel Adolph Houselisted 1978
R. P. Boise Buildinglisted 1981
Boon Brick Storelisted 1975
John D. Boon Houselisted 1975
Burggraf-Burt-Webster Houselisted 1980
Bush and Brey Block and Annexlisted 1981
Asahel Bush Houselisted 1974
Bush-Breyman Blocklisted 1978
Chemawa Indian School Sitelisted 1992
Chemeketa Lodge No. 1 Odd Fellows Buildingslisted 1988
George Collins Houselisted 1989
Population over time
2 figuresSalem grew from 154,637 to 175,535 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 154,637 | |
| 2020 | 175,535 | +20,898 (+14%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 20 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1915 USGS Eola quadrangle1:31680
- 1917 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Salem quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Salem quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Salem quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Salem quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Salem quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Salem West quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1975 USGS Salem West quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Corvallis quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
3 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Salem between 1992 and 2017, burning under an acre in total. 2 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | SPENCER BUTTE |
| 20 July 1992 | Natural | under an acre | Grand Ronde Tribes | W FRK SNAG |
| 20 July 1992 | Natural | under an acre | Grand Ronde Tribes | E FRK SNAG |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 68 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 68 workings within 5 miles of Salem: 37 past producers, 26 producers, 4 occurrences, 1 prospect. 26 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Uranium, Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bauxite Chapman and Eola Hills | Aluminum, Titanium, Metal, Iron | Occurrence | Bauxite, Gibbsite | |
| Chapman and Eola Hills Bauxite | Aluminum, Titanium, Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Illahee Hill | Vanadium | Prospect | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Hills Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Illahee Hill | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Uranium Occurrence | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Austin Borrow | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Austin Bottow Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
7 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Salem in 7 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 3 funnel cloud, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | $2,000 | A report called in by a former spotter, strong gusty winds brought numerous trees down along Hwy. 22. Other reports from this storm included wind gusts strong enough to snap Cottonwood tree branches estimated at 10 to 12 inches in diameter along Hwy. 214. |
| June 2023 | Funnel Cloud | Salem | - | A National Weather Service Skywarn Spotter observed a funnel cloud south of Salem. |
| May 2007 | Hail | Salem | - | Reported residents estimated half an inch accumulations on the ground. |
| December 2006 | Tornado (F0) | Salem | - | Immediately after a thunderstorm with frequent lightning and small hail, a small tornado touched down. The tornado crossed an acre and a half of floodwater up to three feet deep and sucked all the water up into the funnel. The tornado continued on and picked up a 12-inch diameter cedar tree and tossed it into a barn. The tornado then changed direction and picked up an RV and threw it on its side. |
| October 2003 | Funnel Cloud | Salem | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Funnel Cloud | Salem | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salem Station (historical) | 0.5 miles | 20 | |
| Highland Station (historical) | 1.1 miles | 20 | |
| Badger Corner | 2.8 miles | 18 | |
| Four Corners | 2.9 miles | 18 | |
| Oak Park | 3.1 miles | 18 | |
| Keizer | 3.3 miles | 20 | |
| Liberty | 4.0 miles | 20 | |
| Hayesville | 4.1 miles | 18 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Salem | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q43919 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1167861. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.











