Roanoke Rapids is a medium-sized city located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 14,669 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Roanoke Rapids is the 70th largest community in North Carolina.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 7.48% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Being a small city, Roanoke Rapids does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

The population of Roanoke Rapids overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 21.84%. Of adults 25 and older in Roanoke Rapids, 21.82% have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Roanoke Rapids in 2022 was $29,306, which is middle income relative to North Carolina, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $117,224 for a family of four. However, Roanoke Rapids contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Roanoke Rapids is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Roanoke Rapids home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Roanoke Rapids residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Roanoke Rapids include English, Irish, German, Scottish, and European.

The most common language spoken in Roanoke Rapids is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.