City safety & data profile
Roanoke RapidsNC
Roanoke Rapids, NC is a 15K-resident city in Halifax County with a median household income of $53,690.
Halifax County, North Carolina. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Roanoke Rapids, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Roanoke Rapids has a population larger than 29% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $142,700, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.
- 15K
- Population (place)
- Bottom 30%
- By size
- $53,690
- Median income (place)
- $142,700
- Median home (place)
- 18.4%
- Poverty rate (place)
The read on Roanoke Rapids
Roanoke Rapids posts a median household income higher than 13% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Roanoke Rapids area.
- Bottom 14%
- by median income, US cities
- 1
- hospital in & near Roanoke Rapids
Composite score · Roanoke Rapids, NC
22/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024
A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Compare against every tracked city: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).
Where Roanoke Rapids income ranks nationally
Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)
$53,690 Bottom 13% higher than 13% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles
Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year
Biggest cities by headcount in NC
87 NC places (10,000+ residents, ACS income on record), sorted by population. Hover a bar for its income rank in this pool.
- Charlotte
Charlotte, NC
911,311 residents
- Raleigh
Raleigh, NC
482,295 residents
- Greensboro 285,342
Greensboro, NC
285,342 residents
- Durham 257,636
Durham, NC
257,636 residents
- Winston-Salem 241,218
Winston-Salem, NC
241,218 residents
- Fayetteville 201,963
Fayetteville, NC
201,963 residents
- Cary 159,769
Cary, NC
159,769 residents
- Wilmington 115,933
Wilmington, NC
115,933 residents
- High Point 110,268
High Point, NC
110,268 residents
- Asheville 95,056
Asheville, NC
95,056 residents
What this shows By headcount, Charlotte ranks #1 here -- income honors go to Weddington.
Top earners by city in NC
Median household income across 87 tracked NC places. Hover a bar for its population rank.
- Weddington
Weddington, NC
$190,766 median
- Davidson
Davidson, NC
$166,556 median
- Summerfield
Summerfield, NC
$160,275 median
- Harrisburg
Harrisburg, NC
$148,254 median
- Apex
Apex, NC
$144,135 median
- Holly Springs
Holly Springs, NC
$135,578 median
- Cary
Cary, NC
$134,905 median
- Waxhaw
Waxhaw, NC
$131,894 median
- Morrisville
Morrisville, NC
$125,396 median
- Wake Forest
Wake Forest, NC
$123,802 median
What this shows Weddington leads this pool on median income; Charlotte is the population leader instead.
The quick read
Reading Roanoke Rapids, NC beyond the headline numbers
Roanoke Rapids sits inside Halifax County, North Carolina, at roughly 36.46°N, -77.65°W. Population 15,345, $53,690 median household income. Median home value $142,700, median rent $858. Poverty rate 18.4%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.
1 hospital in/around Roanoke Rapids, 2/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER. Climate: 59.6°F annual average, 49.5" precipitation.
Among the CDC measures on this page, stroke departs furthest from its peer median: 4.9% in Roanoke Rapids, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.
8.1% unemployment puts Roanoke Rapids in the toughest quarter of reporting cities for job availability.
18.4% of Roanoke Rapids, NC residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.
A typical renter in Roanoke Rapids, NC pays $858/month, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities -- rent here is not what strains a local paycheck.
Housing is inexpensive against local pay -- the median home in Roanoke Rapids runs about 2.7 years of median household income, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities.
22% of Roanoke Rapids adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the lowest quarter of reporting cities.
Only 8.2% of Roanoke Rapids workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.
Public transit carries 0% of Roanoke Rapids workers, a smaller share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Roanoke Rapids from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.
A Decade of Change 2013–2024
County-level trend (Halifax County): Roanoke Rapids's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.
The Economic Picture
Roanoke Rapids's poverty rate of 18.4% runs 48% above the tracked-city average, the most notable of the economic figures Areazine tracks here. Median rent runs 44% below average too, at $858/mo.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median Rent | |
| Poverty Rate | 18.4% +48% vs avg |
| Unemployment | 8.1% |
| Bachelor's Degree+ | 22% |
| Work From Home | 8.2% |
| Public Transit | 0% |
Headcount
Health Profile 15 measures
Health Indicators
Preventive Care
Other Measures
Nearby Healthcare 1 total
CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.
Climate
NOAA 1991-2020 NormalsNFIP Flood Claim History
FEMA NFIP, county-levelSince 2016, NFIP has paid out $232K across 13 flood insurance claims filed in Halifax County.
Hurricane Matthew alone generated 6 of those claims, the county's largest named flood event in this record.
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.
What alerts and safety updates affect Roanoke Rapids?
No area-tagged alerts are on record for Roanoke Rapids right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.
City alert dispatch desk
Sheet NC-ROANOKE-RAPIDS · Roanoke Rapids
Roanoke Rapids: no area-tagged alerts on record. State hubs carry the live CAP stream.
- FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
- LEAD-NONE Feed idle
- DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed
Counts reflect published articles tagged to Roanoke Rapids; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse North Carolina state hubs · Methodology
Related reading
Common Questions 8
What is the population of Roanoke Rapids, NC? ▼
What is the median household income in Roanoke Rapids? ▼
What is the median home value in Roanoke Rapids? ▼
What are the top health concerns in Roanoke Rapids? ▼
How many hospitals are in Roanoke Rapids? ▼
What is the median age in Roanoke Rapids? ▼
What is the climate like in Roanoke Rapids? ▼
What is the flood claim history for Roanoke Rapids? ▼
Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8
Two ACS-derived peer sets for Roanoke Rapids, both outside North Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.
Similar poverty rate
Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside NC (18.4% here).
Similar median income
Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside NC ($53,690 here).
Compare Roanoke Rapids with another city
Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.
Nearby Places 8
Using Roanoke Rapids's profile
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Roanoke Rapids area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- A median income figure alone can mislead, cross-check it against the poverty rate for the fuller picture.
- Compare Roanoke Rapids against North Carolina peers on any ranking lens. Explore North Carolina
Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Halifax County) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.