Salem is a city in and the county seat of Salem County, the most rural county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The name Salem, for both the city and county, is derived from the Hebrew word shalom, meaning peace. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 5,296, an increase of 150 from the 2010 census count of 5,146, which in turn reflected a decrease of 711 from the 5,857 counted in the 2000 census.