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Salem is an independent city in the Roanoke Valley of southwestern Virginia, between the Allegheny and Blue Ridge mountains — not to be confused with Salem, Massachusetts or Salem, Oregon.

Salem was established in 1802 and chartered as a town in 1806, growing up as a stop for pioneers traveling the Great Valley of Virginia.

Salem has been the county seat of Roanoke County since 1838, even though as an independent city it is a separate jurisdiction from the county it serves.

Salem officially became an independent city on December 31, 1967, a move made to avoid possible annexation by the neighboring city of Roanoke; by then its 1960 population of 16,058 had made it Virginia's largest town.

Salem had a population of 25,346 at the 2020 census, up slightly from 24,802 in 2010.

Salem has about 10,256 households according to Census Bureau QuickFacts for 2020-2024, with about 62.8% of its homes owner-occupied.

Roanoke College, a private Lutheran liberal arts college founded in 1842 in Augusta County, moved to Salem in a single covered wagon in 1847 and received its college charter in 1853; it is the second-oldest Lutheran college in the United States and enrolls about 2,000 students on an 80-acre campus.

During the Civil War, Salem's Flying Artillery is said to have fired the last Confederate shot at Appomattox Court House before Robert E. Lee's surrender.

The Salem Civic Center hosts the Salem Fair each July, described by the city as the second-largest fair in Virginia.

Salem's 8,000-seat Salem Football Stadium is home to the Salem High School Spartans, and the city also fields the Salem RidgeYaks minor league baseball team.