Salem, Arkansas.
Typical home $240,577 (+6.9% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$615 (+95%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $15,432 +7%
- $225,145$240,577 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $30,575 +15%
- $210,001$240,577 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Salem$1,263
- Arkansas$1,177
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 25 years.
Typical home values in Salem, AR rose 6.9% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Salem, Fulton County, Arkansas
Salem is a city of 1,566 people in Fulton County. Unemployment in Fulton County was 4.6% in August 2026, and the county had 1.2% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Fulton County work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Salem is a small city and the seat of Fulton County, in the Ozark hills of northern Arkansas. Winters are cold but not severe, with only a little snow, and summers get hot. Rain falls through the year, and the housing here costs less than in much of the country. Incomes across Fulton County run well below the national level, and few adults hold a four-year degree.
Work. Most residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with manufacturing, retail, and transport, warehouses and utilities also employing many. Fulton County Hospital, North Arkansas Electric Cooperative and Eagle Health Systems are among the largest workplaces in town. Across Fulton County, unemployment has eased over the past year and the number of jobs has edged up. Commutes are fairly long, and few people work from home.
Things to do. Bay Creek is a river a short drive away, a place for a quiet afternoon by the water. Mammoth Spring State Park, a protected area, and Grand Gulf State Park, another protected area, are both a longer drive away. South Fork Spring River is also a longer drive from town, and the Ozark rivers and parks make the area good for those who like to be outdoors.
Report a mistake
- 566households
- 12%of adults have a degree
- 27 mintypical commute
- 8%work from home
What people in Fulton County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Fulton County had 1,796 jobs in 2025, 1.2% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 46° and lows near 25°; warmest in July, with highs near 90° and lows near 68°. About 5 inches of snow and 50 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Salem weather station, a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Salem
- Fulton County HospitalCritical access hospital144FTE
- North Arkansas Electric Cooperative - SalemDistribution of electric power76
- Eagle Health SystemsSkilled nursing facilities74
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 3 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 277 people in all. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Ice stormsVery high
- TornadoesVery high
- Strong windRelatively high
- LightningRelatively high
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Salem’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Fulton County.
Salem home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Salem$240,577
- Arkansas$224,158
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Salem listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Salem22.42%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Salem14
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a Salem address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Salem — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.