SALEM –The City of Salem today issued a report card on the community’s current five-year Housing Roadmap. The City of Salem adopted its Housing Roadmap in December of 2022 and is now just past the midway point in implementation. The Housing Roadmap establishes a shared housing vision that has guided the City’s planning and policy initiatives in recent years. Through a community process, the City identified 30 strategies to help realize the community’s housing vision. With half of the Roadmap’s timeframe passed now, the City presents this report card to update the community on the City’s housing needs and track progress toward the 2027 housing goals.
“Far too many of our neighbors struggle to pay their bills, to afford the rising cost of basics like food and housing, or to save for the future,” said Mayor Dominick Pangallo, “The Housing Roadmap Report Card offers a check-in on how we are working to meet our goals for a more affordable Salem for everyone who calls this city home. The Report Card isn’t just a snapshot of where we are, though: it’s a call to action. We need more homes of all types, to protect our existing affordable units and create more opportunities for reasonably priced housing. Our vision is for a Salem where people who work here can also afford to live here and people who live here can afford to age in place here. The Report Card provides important insights into how we are meeting those goals and what work is still ahead of us. I am grateful to the City staff, City Councillors, housing-related board members, community partners, and residents who continue to work together to make Salem a more affordable place to live.”
“Every day, I work directly with Salem residents facing housing insecurity, and I witness firsthand the emotional toll that displacement and unaffordable housing take on individuals and families,” said Lori Stewart, Housing Stability Coordinator for the City of Salem, “This isn’t just data – it’s real lives. The Housing Roadmap is more than a document; it’s a lifeline. Through my role, I combine on-the-ground service with policy work, ensuring the voices of these residents shape the solutions we pursue. Salem is leading by example, showing that when a city listens to its people and acts with urgency, we can make real progress toward housing stability and affordability for all.”
“Salem’s Housing Roadmap was a community driven and led planning tool developed with the input of our seniors, students, renters, homeowners, and diverse voices, making this a robust and people driven plan,” remarked Filipe Zamborlini, Chair of Salem’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board, “Crucially, we’re not leaving this plan on the shelf. Salem is implementing the vision we built together for a community that meets the housing needs of all. There’s more work to be done and, as we continue to advance the goals we set for ourselves, we will together build a better future for all Salem residents.”
The report outlines the status of all 30 strategies identified in the 2022 Housing Roadmap. As of October, 2025, 14 of those strategies have been completed and another eight are in progress. However, eight strategies have not yet started. Among the completed items, regulations around condo conversions are in place, inclusionary housing rules have been established, the City’s housing rehabilitation program has been supported, and a housing stability position has been created within the Mayor’s office, among several other important advancements.
The report card highlights that all of this occurs within the context of a challenging housing landscape. Between 2020 and 2025, Salem’s condo prices rose 36.8%, signaling growing affordability challenges for first-time and middle-income buyers. Between January and August 2020 and the same period in 2025, the average rent in Salem increased by 34.8%, rising from $2,000 to $2,695. Salem’s rent is growing faster than Boston region’s average rent, which went up 26.6% over the same time.
A healthy housing market has a natural vacancy rate of about 2% for owned properties and about 6% for rental units. Over the past decade, vacancy rates in Salem have dropped dramatically, with a vacancy rate of 0.3% of owned properties and 1.9% of rental units vacant at last evaluation. When vacancy rates are low, it indicates there is not enough supply, which then drives up housing costs.
Between 2016 and 2020, 20% of the 1,553 total housing units that were approved are affordable. Between 2021 and 2025, though, 39% of the 1,347 total housing units approved or in the pipeline are affordable, as the City has pushed for greater affordability in housing projects.
For more information about the City’s housing goals and work to achieve them, visit ImagineSalem.org.
