Photo: Rivers Langley, http://www.phoenixrivers.blogspot.com · Public domainHouseholds in Roanoke earn less than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Roanoke C−; getting around on foot earns it C−. The poverty rate is 12.5%, where Alabama as a whole has 15.6%. About one in four work in Roanoke; the top destination outside it is LaGrange (7%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Roanoke, in a few figures
A lot of Roanoke workers cross into Georgia
25% of Roanoke workers work outside Alabama, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, LaGrange (7%), West Point (3%) and Carrollton (2%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Roanoke trades workers with the towns around it
Roanoke has about as many jobs (2,518) as working residents (2,304), but they are mostly different people: 1,622 residents leave for work each day while 1,836 people come in. Only 27% of the jobs in Roanoke are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Roanoke makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Roanoke are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Roanoke residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 36%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Roanoke
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Roanoke is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #128 of 187 in Alabama. Unemployment holds Roanoke’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($47,105, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Roanoke could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where the trip to work from Roanoke ends
Where Roanoke clocks in
7% of workers
4% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Roanoke by day and by night
On a workday 1,622 residents head out to work, 682 work right here, and 1,836 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.09 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
In Roanoke, 37% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
2,518 jobs are based in Roanoke.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roanoke, 2013 → 2023: 2,533 → 2,518. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Roanoke’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Roanoke’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roanoke workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,039 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Alabama: 88% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Near or far: the trip to work from Roanoke
About 26% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Roanoke commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roanoke is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns, #143 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 1.7% across Alabama.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,138 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.9% of Roanoke households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Roanoke’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Roanoke is 2,865th among 3,541 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 162 | Highland Lakes AL | 5,866 | $169K | 4.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Priceville AL | 3,952 | $117K | 2.2% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 220 | Argo AL | 4,376 | $105K | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,863 | Chula Vista TX | 4,746 | $39K | 24.4% | 2.2% | <1% | C− |
| 2,864 | Winfield AL | 4,842 | $50K | 12.5% | 3.9% | 23% | C− |
| 2,865 | Roanoke AL | 5,440 | $47K | 12.5% | 3.4% | 30% | C− |
| 2,866 | Gladstone MI | 5,189 | $55K | 14.1% | 3.9% | 16% | C− |
| 2,867 | Marlow Heights MD | 5,456 | $56K | 31.5% | 15.1% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,541 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Roanoke, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Roanoke: questions
What is the median household income in Roanoke?
$47,105 (±$15,138) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roanoke?
12.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roanoke?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roanoke work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are LaGrange (7%, 21 mi), Opelika (4%, 34 mi), West Point (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roanoke walkable?
Roanoke is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roanoke without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roanoke, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roanoke
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.