Roanoke, VA
Roanoke, VA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Roanoke, VA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Roanoke ranks 181st for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 177th for income. A household earns $72,557 a year while median rent runs $1,188/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 6% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is job market (15th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (181st). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 129th and home prices 123rd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Roanoke, your take-home is worth about $61,684 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 177th of 300↑20%$72,557
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 132nd of 30094 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $77,503
- Per-capita income
- $40,381
- Full-time pay
- $42,668
Housing
- Median rent
- 129th of 300↑42.3%$1,188/mo
- Home value
- 123rd of 300↑44.9%$278,000
- Property tax
- $2,014/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 5.77%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 15th of 3002.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 174th of 30031.8%
- Avg commute
- 78th of 30022.2 min
People
- Population
- 315,456
- Population change
- +0.9%
- Median age
- 42.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 6.5%
- Broadband
- 89.5%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 68th of 30040
- Natural-hazard loss
- 67th of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 139th of 30018.2%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — roanoke-blacksburg rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Roanoke
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $224,410
- IT managers
- $164,910
- Financial managers
- $158,030
- Lawyers
- $134,440
- Pharmacists
- $133,980
- Software developers
- $121,110
- General & operations managers
- $98,140
- Web developers
- $91,390
- Civil engineers
- $90,720
- Registered nurses
- $80,090
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,240
- Elementary school teachers
- $62,010
- Secondary school teachers
- $61,760
- Police officers
- $59,900
- Electricians
- $58,200
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $56,430
- Plumbers
- $51,700
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,880
- Carpenters
- $47,050
- Customer service reps
- $45,500
- Construction laborers
- $38,150
- Waiters & waitresses
- $37,380
- Janitors
- $34,880
- Retail salespersons
- $30,440
- Cashiers
- $29,060
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Roanoke metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Virginia are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- North Carolina957
- Georgia817
- Texas491
- Florida465
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Roanoke
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Roanoke metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Roanoke metro?
- Median gross rent across the Roanoke, VA Metro Area is $1,188 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Roanoke.
- What is the median household income in the Roanoke metro?
- A typical household in the Roanoke, VA Metro Area earns $72,557 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Roanoke expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Roanoke, VA Metro Area runs about 6% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Roanoke metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $77,503 (versus its face value of $72,557). CityLedger rates the Roanoke, VA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Roanoke metro?
- The median home value across the Roanoke, VA Metro Area is $278,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Roanoke metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Roanoke, VA Metro Area is 2.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).