City · Randolph County, Alabama

Roanoke, Alabama

Roanoke is a city in Randolph County, Alabama. It has 5,336 residents. Roanoke, Alabama has a quality-of-life score of 6 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,636 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Alabama it ranks #240 of 319 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), drinking water violations (low) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on dentists (low), mental health providers (low) and flu vaccinations (low).

6Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,636 of 15,651 cities and towns
Alabama: #240 of 319 in AL
Population: 5,336 (2020-2024)
Land area: 19 mi²
Density: 284.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 0165040

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety6#14,662/15,637
Economy18#12,748/15,631
Housing74#3,947/14,977
Health16#13,130/15,609
Healthcare6#14,666/15,650
Environment62#5,919/15,453
Education7#14,599/15,649
Infrastructure5#14,827/15,650
Community6#14,760/15,651
Leisure & amenities9#14,225/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Roanoke, Alabama ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Randolph County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Time spent in the emergency room · low96 min
97/100Alabama 155 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesRandolph County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Alabama 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRandolph County value
Child care cost burden · low22.7%
86/100Alabama 25.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRandolph County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.56%
83/100Alabama 0.37%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Comfortable days · high30.7%
81/100Alabama 28.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationRandolph County value
High ozone days · low0 days
76/100Alabama 0 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyRandolph County value

Weaknesses

Dentists · low9 /100k
1/100Alabama 49 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRandolph County value
Mental health providers · low30 /100k
2/100Alabama 156 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRandolph County value
Flu vaccinations · low24.0%
2/100Alabama 36.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRandolph County value
Average weekly wage · low$859
3/100Alabama $1,240United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRandolph County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Alabama 14.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationRandolph County value
Math scores · low2.51
4/100Alabama 2.65United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRandolph County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
5,926 (2015-2019) → 5,336 (2020-2024)
−10%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
49.6% (2015-2019) → 9.1% (2020-2024)
−40 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.0× (2015-2019) → 3.3× (2020-2024)
+60%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Poverty rateImproving
20.0% (2015-2019) → 12.5% (2020-2024)
−7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
14.7% (2015-2019) → 7.6% (2020-2024)
−7 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.9% (2015-2019) → 83.5% (2020-2024)
+6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Roanoke, Alabama improved on 2 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Uninsured−7 points14.7% → 7.6%
Poverty−7.5 points20.0% → 12.5%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Roanoke, Alabama between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.8 min2015-2019	21.6 min2020-2024	−0.2 min	Within the margin of error	50%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.4%2015-2019	17.0%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Broadband subscriptions	76.9%2015-2019	83.5%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Within the margin of error	42%
High school diploma or higher	82.4%2015-2019	88.8%2020-2024	+6.3 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	3.3×2020-2024	+1.2×	Within the margin of error	15%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4432015-2019	0.4782020-2024	+0.035	Within the margin of error	24%
Median household income	$42,0692015-2019	$47,1052020-2024	+12%	Within the margin of error	19%
Poverty rate	20.0%2015-2019	12.5%2020-2024	−7.5 points	Improved	88%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	26.8%2015-2019	26.3%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Rent-burdened households	37.3%2015-2019	40.7%2020-2024	+3.5 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Unemployment rate	4.5%2015-2019	3.4%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	14.7%2015-2019	7.6%2020-2024	−7 points	Improved	92%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Roanoke, Alabama five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Roanoke, Alabama in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Roanoke, Alabama itself moved −7.8 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

5,336 residents (±25)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

2,344 households (±188)

Roanoke, Alabama
Alabama share

Under $25k27%†639
$25k–50k24%†573
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

2,344 households (±188)

Roanoke, Alabama
Alabama share

Own67%1,576
Rent33%768

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

2,138 workers (±277)

Roanoke, Alabama
Alabama share

Drive alone81%1,735
Carpool11%†229
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Randolph County, the county holding most of Roanoke's residents.

Randolph County has 364 employer establishments, 160 for every 10,000 residents (0.64× the US rate of 248; 0.77× Alabama's), with 3,865 paid employees at an average annual pay of $39,197. The Census Bureau also counts 1,667 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 364; 1,667 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 160; US 248 · Alabama 207
Paid employees: 3,865
Average annual pay: $39,197; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Randolph County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	24	10.5	0.68×Fewer than typical	135	$60,993	184
Gasoline stations	23	10.1	3.11×More than typical	83	$20,084	—
Religious organizations	22	9.6	1.74×More than typical	112	$20,723	—
Ambulatory health care services	21	9.2	0.44×Fewer than typical	303	$59,670	41
Restaurants and other eating places	21	9.2	0.50×Fewer than typical	345	$15,571	9
Building equipment contractors	14	6.1	1.02×About typical	76	$58,211	44
Truck transportation	13	5.7	1.13×About typical	167	$51,503	66
Limited-service restaurants	12	5.3	0.66×Fewer than typical	235	$17,315	—
General merchandise stores	11	4.8	2.73×More than typical	277	$29,729	13
Banks and credit unions	10	4.4	1.36×More than typical	85	$50,694	—
Lessors of real estate	10	4.4	0.36×Fewer than typical	20	$25,200	111
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	10	4.4	1.33×More than typical	55	$59,109	19

Rank places for an industry Open Randolph County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 22,800 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $5,082 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Roanoke, Alabama: $0.95 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $5,082; +117% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.95; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Forest Service$5,082100%

Top recipients

FORESTREE NETWORK SERVICES LLC$5,082100%

Spending by fiscal year

9.4KFY2018
30.6KFY2019
280.3FY2020
-1.5KFY2021
1.2KFY2022
2.3KFY2025
5.1KFY2026

What was bought

Facilities & utilities

Top industries (NAICS)

Support activities for crop production · 1151$5,082100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Roanoke, Alabama, so they do not add up across cities.

Roanoke, Alabama's figures are part of those of Randolph County, AL ($52.8K in FY2026), never added to them: 9.6% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Roanoke is mostly in Randolph County.

See federal money in Randolph County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Roanoke, Alabama is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mike RogersR-AL-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 3.1%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Randolph County7100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Randolph County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0165040

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends