South Salem is a somewhat small town located in the state of New York. With a population of 8,980 people and two associated neighborhoods, South Salem is the 197th largest community in New York. South Salem home prices are not only among the most expensive in New York, but South Salem real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.South Salem is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 92.86% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, South Salem is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in South Salem who work in management occupations (21.56%), business and financial occupations (11.99%), and sales jobs (11.01%). Of important note, South Salem is also a town of artists. South Salem has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape South Salem’s character. Also of interest is that South Salem has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 27.39% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. In addition, South Salem is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre. Because of many things, South Salem is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making South Salem a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, South Salem has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, South Salem’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family. In South Salem, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 34.21 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. Despite being a small town, South Salem has a lot of people using the subway to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the subway are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.If knowledge is power, South Salem is a pretty powerful place. 71.66% of the adults in South Salem have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in South Salem in 2022 was $97,052, which is wealthy relative to New York and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $388,208 for a family of four. South Salem is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call South Salem home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of South Salem residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in South Salem include Irish, Italian, German, English, and Eastern European. The most common language spoken in South Salem is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.
