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Where am ILOCATED

Salem, OR Metro Area

The Salem, OR metro area is made up of 2 counties in Oregon: Marion and Polk. About 445,814 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 2.9% more than in April 2020.

Marion County, centralPolk County, centralSalem
2 counties in Oregon
Population, July 2025
445,814 2.9% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
2, both central
Land area
1,922 sq mi (4,977 km²)
Time zone
Pacific TimeUTC-08:00 in January; UTC-07:00 in July
State
Oregon
Combined statistical area
Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA
CBSA code
41420
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Salem, OR metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Marion CountyCentral355,77779.8%
Polk CountyCentral90,03720.2%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. This area has no outlying counties: no neighboring county sends enough commuters to join it. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Salem178,865 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 4 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area2,542,282 people
  2. Albany, OR Metro Area132,843 people
  3. Longview-Kelso, WA Metro Area114,885 people
  4. Corvallis, OR Metro Area97,728 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Albany, OR Metro Area21 mi south
  2. Corvallis, OR Metro Area27 mi southwest
  3. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area46 mi northeast
  4. Newport, OR Micro Area54 mi west
  5. The Dalles, OR Micro Area102 mi northeast
  6. Bend, OR Metro Area104 mi southeast

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗