Explore Salem, North Carolina, with this interactive street and satellite map.
This page also offers TOPO MAPS — the official USGS topographic sheets — plus USGS aerial imagery, a labelled USNG grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below.
This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Salem, North Carolina. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture. Drag the map to pan to any area of North Carolina or beyond.
Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).
TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the official USGS topographic maps from The National Map — contours, hydrography, land cover and shaded relief, the same mapping used for hiking, hunting and back-country navigation in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes. Imagery shows USGS aerial photography, mostly 1-metre NAIP. The search box finds any US town, county or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Salem.
Reading the map like a paper quad. Click Grid to overlay the U.S. National Grid (USNG), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.
Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as a USNG grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — USNG being the format FEMA and US search and rescue teams work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need cell coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load.
| City | Salem |
| State | North Carolina (NC) |
| County | Nash County |
| Country | United States of America |
| Timezone | Eastern Time (America/New_York) |
| Latitude | 35.699725 |
| Longitude | -81.700298 |
| Population | 2,356 |
| Density | 211.9 /km² |
| Incorporated | N/A |
| ZIP Codes | 27320, 27101, 27030, 28655 |
| Area Code | 336, 828 |
| County Seat | Nashville |
| School District | Burke County Schools |
Salem emerges from the quiet intersection of red clay earth and the dense, green reach of the piedmont, where the horizon is defined by the subtle, persistent rise of land toward Medoc Mountain in the distance. It lies 12.8 miles north-northwest of Rocky Mount, NC (from Rocky Mount, NC: bearing 342°T), and is situated 5.8 miles north-northeast of Red Oak. Sunlight here possesses a peculiar, honeyed thickness, casting long, amber shadows that catch the tangled brush and pines near the slow, deliberate flow of Black Swamp. Beyond the immediate canopy, the landscape levels into a patchwork of fields that have been worked for generations, the soil holding a damp, iron-rich scent that lingers long after the afternoon heat has dissipated. To the north, the Tar River Land Conservancy Preserve offers a quiet sanctuary of undisturbed timber, preserving a silence that feels as ancient as the bedrock beneath the topsoil.
Salem retains the rhythmic, industrious temper of a place built upon the labor of the loom and the cultivation of leaf, where the legacy of textile mills and tobacco barns informs the very architecture of the streets. The local economy, once tethered strictly to these traditional harvests, has evolved into a more varied pursuit of modern craftsmanship and trade, though the shadow of the past remains visible in the sturdy, unadorned brickwork of the older storefronts. Residents often find their respite at Coopers Pond, a mirror of still water that reflects the changing seasons with precise, muted clarity, far removed from the clamor of larger hubs. Life in Salem proceeds with a courteous, measured pace, anchored by a collective memory that values the gravity of hard work and the simple, enduring beauty of the inland woods.
Loading news…
Loading news-world…
Loading news-world…
This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Salem, North Carolina. Coordinates: 35.699725, -81.700298. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.
Detailed location data for Salem includes the ZIP code (27320, 27101, 27030), telephone area code (336, 828), county seat of Nash County (Nashville), and school district assignment (Burke County Schools).
Search Maps opens a second, independent map. It searches OpenStreetMap for any US town, county or landmark by name; offers USGS topographic maps and USGS aerial imagery as base layers; overlays a labelled U.S. National Grid (USNG) so the map can be read like a printed topographic quad; measures distance and grid, true and magnetic bearings between any two points; and takes a single GPS fix reporting your position as a USNG grid reference and as latitude and longitude. Map tiles require cell coverage, but a GPS position does not, so the coordinates remain correct even where the map cannot load.
Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Location data | SimpleMaps US Cities Database; coordinates matched to USGS GNIS definitive data |
| Map layers | Google Maps; © OpenStreetMap contributors; USGS The National Map topographic and aerial imagery (public domain); magnetic declination from NOAA NCEI (World Magnetic Model) |
| Wikipedia validation | Article content matched to USGS GNIS coordinates via Wikipedia geosearch API. |