Salem is a census-designated place (CDP) in Burke County, North Carolina, United States.

Gilboa Methodist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

U.S. Route 64 (Burkemont Avenue) is the main road through the community, leading north into Morganton and southwest 29 miles (47 km) to Rutherfordton.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.3 square miles (11.1 km2), all land.

[4] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,356 people, 890 households, and 444 families residing in the CDP.