Cost of Living in Salem, OR, United States

RESTAURANTS

There’s some good eating in downtown Salem besides your regular chain restaurants and fast-food places and the residents report that the food scene is getting increasingly better each year.

It is also much less expensive, with a decent meal in an inexpensive restaurant costing only around 14.5$.

MARKETS

Salem has a Costco out by the freeway, and besides the normal Safeways, Roths, and Grocery Outlets, there’s a Natural Grocers and a Trader Joe’s.

During the summer, a street is closed off twice a week in Downtown Salem for a Wednesday Farmer’s market and a Saturday street market where you can get fresh produce for less money than in most supermarkets.

TRANSPORTATION

The Cherriots bus system is operating through the city, taking you from the suburbs to downtown and into Keizer, Oregon.

The fares are 1.60$ for a one-way ride, 3.25$ for a day pass, and 45$ for a 30-day pass.

Though the residents claim that the transit system is also slowly improving, it is still pretty expensive for the service it offers.

UTILITIES (MONTHLY)

Utilities are generally reasonable in Oregon and that applies to Salem, too.

Of course, depending on the size of your apartment and the amount of electricity you spend, your bills could be higher or lower, but all in all – for an apartment of around 85m2, all basic utilities including electricity, gas, water, heating, cooling and garbage services, will cost you around 230$.

SPORTS & LEISURE

The parks system is beautiful in Salem.

There are many parks, from neighborhood playgrounds to large parks such as Riverfront and Bush.

The great thing is that all the major parks are connected by walkways throughout the city, so Salem is, in other words, perfect for outdoor exercising.

Membership in a gym or a fitness club will cost you around 25$.

Cinema tickets are much cheaper, however, costing only about 12.25$ each.

CLOTHING & SHOES

There’s a regular two-level mall in the center, surrounded by little shops and stores.

Over in Lancaster, there’s a single-level mall as well as lots of department stores.

South on Commercial street headed out of downtown, there are more shopping centers and stores where you can go shopping.

Prices are reasonable with jeans costing around 50$ and sneakers a bit over 80$.

RENT PER MONTH

Rent prices are starting to go down slightly due to all the new apartments everywhere but, on average, they were reasonable even before that.

If you want an apartment in the city center, you’ll spend around 1500$ a month in rent for it while an apartment outside of the city center will be closer to 1200$.