As the first town along I-93 northbound in New Hampshire, which lacks any state sales tax, Salem has grown into a regional commercial hub for the northern section of Greater Boston, anchored by the Mall at Rockingham Park and Tuscan Village.

[5] In 1902, Canobie Lake Park was established in Salem by the Massachusetts Northeast Street Railway Company to encourage leisure excursions on its trolleys.

Crowds arrived from all over, including the nearby mill towns of Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell and Methuen in Massachusetts, and Manchester and Nashua in New Hampshire.

Factory workers and others found respite strolling along tree-lined promenades, between flower beds or beside the lake.

[6] Other features of Salem's tourism history include America's Stonehenge, a curiosity (formerly "Mystery Hill").

Starting in 2017, the Tuscan Village complex has been under construction, a multi-million dollar mixed-use commercial property that includes retail, medical offices, condos, and apartments.

In 2009, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation commissioned a study exploring the reactivation of the branch and instituting commuter rail service connecting to the MBTA Haverhill Line and onward to Boston.

The study's cost/benefit analysis recommended taking no action to reactivate beyond preserving the option for consideration at a future time.

Canobie Lake is on the western boundary, Arlington Mill Reservoir is in the north, and World End Pond is in the southeast.

[9] The highest point in Salem is the summit of Gordon's Hill, at 380 feet (120 m) above sea level, along the town's western border.

Salem is a part of New Hampshire House District 25 and is currently represented by nine Republican representatives: Lori Ball, Tanya Donnelly, Fred Doucette, John Janigian, Dennis Mannion, Valerie McDonnell, Joe Sweeney, John Sytek and Susan Vandecasteele.

No Democratic presidential nominee has carried the town since Bill Clinton received a plurality of the vote in 1996.

The Manchester Transit Authority operates a shopper bus shuttle service three days a week.

Scenes from the original The Thomas Crown Affair were filmed at the Salem glider airport, which is now Campbell's Scottish Highlands Golf Course.