Salem is a home rule-class city in Livingston County, Kentucky, in the United States.

Salem is part of the Paducah, KY-IL metropolitan statistical area.

It the second-largest community and largest village in Livingston County, but the census-designated place of Ledbetter has more than two times the population of Salem.

The city is believed to have been settled c. 1800 by immigrants from Salem, North Carolina, who named their new community after their former home.

[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2), all land.