Roanoke Canal · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Roanoke Rapids (8.1%) is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
Roanoke Rapids grades D for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns. For 8% of workers, the job is at home, against 16% across North Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Roanoke Rapids: the gist
No single place dominates Roanoke Rapids’ commute
The biggest draw, Rocky Mount, gets only 4% of working residents, and 53% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Roanoke Rapids residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Roanoke Rapids trades workers with the towns around it
Roanoke Rapids has about as many jobs (6,326) as working residents (6,074), but they are mostly different people: 4,441 residents leave for work each day while 4,693 people come in. Only 26% of the jobs in Roanoke Rapids are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Roanoke Rapids draws workers from far and wide
The 6,326 jobs in Roanoke Rapids are filled from a wide area. Roanoke Rapids’ own residents hold 26% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Roanoke Rapids’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Roanoke Rapids is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #263 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Roanoke Rapids’ grade up (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Roanoke Rapids could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where Roanoke Rapids goes to work
Where Roanoke Rapids clocks in
4% 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.
In and out of Roanoke Rapids on a workday
On a workday 4,441 residents head out to work, 1,633 work right here, and 4,693 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 (1.04 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.
Half of Roanoke Rapids commutes less than 17 miles
About 32% 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.
Inside Roanoke Rapids’ 6,326 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roanoke Rapids, 2013 → 2023: 7,653 → 6,326. 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 Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Roanoke Rapids: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roanoke Rapids workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,526 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 85% 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.
For most of Roanoke Rapids, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roanoke Rapids is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #115 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,020 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). 6.8% of Roanoke Rapids households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Roanoke Rapids’ commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000, and where Roanoke Rapids sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 250 | Rolesville NC | 12,839 | $150K | 1.1% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 320 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,131 | Coalinga CA | 17,281 | $75K | 21.7% | 11.4% | 36% | D |
| 2,132 | Crossville TN | 13,113 | $49K | 22.9% | 7.2% | 48% | D |
| 2,133 | Roanoke Rapids NC | 14,386 | $54K | 18.4% | 8.1% | 27% | D |
| 2,134 | Newberry SC | 10,891 | $51K | 31.5% | 6.9% | 20% | D |
| 2,135 | El Dorado AR | 16,609 | $49K | 23.3% | 7.0% | 49% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Rapids, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Roanoke Rapids and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Weldon (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Roanoke Rapids workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke Rapids | – | D | B− | 22 min | $53,690 |
| South Rosemary | 1% | C− | D | 21 min | $47,466 |
| Weldon | 2% | D | B | 24 min | $48,350 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Roanoke Rapids’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Rapids: questions
What is the median household income in Roanoke Rapids?
$53,690 (±$8,635) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roanoke Rapids?
18.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roanoke Rapids?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roanoke Rapids work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rocky Mount (4%, 34 mi), Greenville (4%, 61 mi), Raleigh (3%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roanoke Rapids walkable?
Roanoke Rapids is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roanoke Rapids without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roanoke Rapids, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roanoke Rapids
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.