Roanoke County

Roanoke County, Virginia (excludes the independent Cities of Roanoke and Salem)

Population size

• 2020 Census: 96,929
• Growth since 2010: roughly +5%

Age

• Median age: ~45 years
• Under 18: ~21%
• 18 to 64: ~57%
• 65 and over: ~22%

Gender

• Female: ~52%
• Male: ~48%

Racial/ethnic composition

• White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: ~84%
• Black or African American alone: ~7%
• Asian alone: ~3%
• Two or more races: ~3–4%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~3–4%
• Other (American Indian/Alaska Native, NH/PI, some other race): <1%

Households

• Total households: ~40,000
• Average household size: ~2.36
• Family households: ~64% of households
• Households with children under 18: ~26%
• Householder living alone: ~26% (about 11% age 65+ living alone)
• Owner-occupied housing share: ~74%

Key takeaways

• Older age profile with about one in five residents 65+
• Predominantly non-Hispanic White, with gradual diversification
• Smaller household sizes and a majority of households are owner-occupied

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census; American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates (e.g., DP05, S0101, S1101, DP02, DP04).

Roanoke County, VA email usage snapshot

• Population and density: ~96,000 residents across ~251 sq mi (≈380 people/sq mi).
• Estimated email users: ~71,000 adults (≈94% of ~75,000 adults), based on Pew Research email adoption by age.
• Age profile of email users (est.):
  • 18–29: ~11.9k users (≈95% adoption)
  • 30–49: ~21.9k (≈95%)
  • 50–64: ~20.7k (≈90%)
  • 65+: ~16.1k (≈80%)
• Gender split: Near parity. Adults are ~52% female/48% male; email use is similar by gender, yielding ~36.7k female and ~33.8k male users.
• Digital access and connectivity:
  • 39,000 households; ≈90% have a broadband subscription (35,000 households) and ≈96% have a computer or smartphone (ACS).
  • ~13% are smartphone‑only internet households, indicating some reliance on mobile data.
  • Cable is widely available in the urbanized corridor (Hollins–Cave Spring–Vinton) with expanding fiber; legacy DSL persists in less‑dense areas. 5G coverage is strong along the I‑81/US‑220 corridors and population centers.
• Insights: High suburban density and strong broadband footprint support near‑universal email adoption among working‑age adults; the primary gap is among residents 65+ and smartphone‑only households. Continued fiber build‑outs should narrow speed and reliability disparities in outlying areas.

Roanoke County, VA mobile phone landscape (2024)

Baseline and user estimates

• Population baseline: ≈97,000 residents; ≈79,000 adults (18+).
• Unique mobile phone users (any mobile device): ≈82,000 residents, or about 84–85% of the total population. This is a few points below Virginia’s statewide usage primarily because the county is older than the state overall.
• Smartphone users: about 71,500–73,000 residents (roughly 74–76% of total population; about 84–86% of adults). Method notes: estimates apply Pew Research’s age-specific smartphone adoption to the county’s older-skewed age mix and include teens.
• Active mobile subscriptions: roughly 105,000–115,000 lines in service countywide, assuming 1.08–1.18 subscriptions per resident (consistent with CTIA/National trends), reflecting multiple devices per user.

Demographic breakdown of usage

• Age
  • 18–29: very high smartphone adoption (~95–97%); similar to statewide.
  • 30–49: very high (~94–96%); similar to statewide.
  • 50–64: high but lower than younger adults (~80–85%); slightly below statewide because this cohort is a larger share locally.
  • 65+: notably lower smartphone adoption (58–64%); below statewide due to the county’s higher share of older residents. Overall mobile phone (any type) usage in this group remains high (88–93%).
• Income and device mix
  • Median household income in Roanoke County trails the Virginia median; as a result, “smartphone-as-primary-internet” households are slightly more common than the state average. Estimate: about 8–10% of households rely on a smartphone without another computing device, versus roughly 6–8% statewide (ACS device-use patterns).
  • Prepaid plans and MVNOs (e.g., Cricket, Metro by T-Mobile, Visible, Straight Talk) have a modestly higher share than statewide averages, especially among cost-sensitive segments.
• Household telephony
  • Wireless-only households (no landline): roughly mid-to-high 60s percent in the county, a few points lower than Virginia’s statewide rate due to the older age profile. Younger and renter households drive the wireless-only share.

Digital infrastructure and coverage

• Networks present: All three nationwide MNOs (AT&T, T‑Mobile, Verizon) provide LTE and 5G service; FirstNet (AT&T) public-safety coverage is available. Regional MVNOs ride these networks.
• 5G footprint and capacity
  • Countywide low-band 5G covers major corridors (I‑81/I‑581/US‑220/US‑460) and populated areas.
  • Mid-band 5G capacity tends to cluster around commercial zones and denser suburbs; outside these cores, LTE remains the fallback layer.
• Terrain effects
  • Ridge-and-valley topography introduces radio “shadowing,” producing more pockets of weak or LTE-only coverage than Virginia’s flatter coastal and piedmont metros. This results in more variable indoor performance and a heavier reliance on Wi‑Fi calling in hillside and hollow neighborhoods.
• Backhaul and fiber
  • Long‑haul and metro fiber from providers such as Lumos/Segra, Lumen, Zayo and others follows the I‑81/I‑581 corridors, with cable/fiber ISPs serving most populated areas. Backhaul is generally robust along highways and business districts, while last‑mile options are thinner at the rural fringe—shaping where carriers deploy mid-band 5G first.
• Public safety and resilience
  • NG911 and Text‑to‑911 are supported locally. Carrier networks commonly employ overlapping macro sites along corridors for redundancy, but mountainous terrain still creates localized single‑path dependencies.

How Roanoke County differs from Virginia overall

• Older population → slightly lower smartphone adoption and a lower share of wireless-only households than the statewide average, despite high overall mobile usage.
• More variable coverage due to terrain → larger gap between corridor performance and peripheral neighborhoods, and more LTE-only pockets than the state’s large coastal/northern metros.
• Device and plan mix → somewhat higher dependence on smartphones as the primary internet connection and on prepaid/MVNO plans than the state average, reflecting local income distribution.
• Capacity concentration → mid-band 5G and highest median speeds are more tightly concentrated around commercial corridors; performance drops off more sharply with distance than in flatter, denser Virginia metros.

Key takeaways

• Expect roughly 82,000 mobile users and around 72,000 smartphone users in Roanoke County, with adoption strongest among under‑50 adults and teens.
• Terrain-driven variability and suburban density patterns shape where 5G capacity is strongest; indoor coverage can lag in hillier neighborhoods without in‑building solutions.
• Compared with Virginia overall, Roanoke County shows slightly lower smartphone penetration, a bit more reliance on smartphones as primary internet among some households, and more heterogeneous coverage and speeds across short distances.

Social media usage in Roanoke County, VA (2025 snapshot; best-available local estimates derived from ACS demographics and Pew/DataReportal adoption rates)

Core user stats

• Population base: ~97,000 residents; ~85,000 are age 13+.
• Social media users (13+): 66,000–71,000 (78–84% of 13+; 68–73% of total population).
• Daily social media users: 48,000–52,000 (roughly 70–75% of users).
• Average time on social media: ~2 hours 10–20 minutes per day (in line with U.S. averages).

Age and gender profile of users (share of all social users)

• 13–17: ~9%
• 18–29: ~19%
• 30–49: ~31%
• 50–64: ~23%
• 65+: ~17%
• Gender: ~54% women, ~46% men (nonbinary share not reliably measurable locally).

Most-used platforms (share of residents 13+ using monthly)

• YouTube: ~82%
• Facebook: ~63%
• Instagram: ~41%
• TikTok: ~34%
• Pinterest: ~31%
• LinkedIn: ~27%
• Snapchat: ~24%
• X (Twitter): ~20%
• WhatsApp: ~19%
• Reddit: ~19%

Behavioral trends observed locally (consistent with suburb-heavy counties)

• Facebook as the local utility: High engagement with community groups, schools, local gov pages, events; Marketplace is widely used for buying/selling.
• Video-first consumption: Short-form vertical video (Reels, TikTok, Shorts) drives growth and cross-posting; YouTube remains the default for “how-to” and local interest content.
• Private sharing is dominant: A large share of interaction occurs in DMs (Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp) and private groups rather than public feeds.
• Shopping and discovery: Social commerce is moderate overall; Marketplace leads for secondhand goods; TikTok Shop and Instagram Shops see strongest traction among under-35s.
• News and alerts: Facebook and YouTube are principal channels for local news; X has a smaller, news-focused niche audience.
• Peak activity windows: Evenings (about 7–10 pm) are the strongest, with a midday check-in bump on weekdays and higher overall activity on weekends.
• Demographic skews:
  • 18–29: Over-index on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat; maintain Facebook accounts but post less frequently.
  • 30–49: Active across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube; high engagement with school- and activity-related groups.
  • 50–64 and 65+: Heaviest on Facebook and YouTube; Pinterest is strong among women 35–64.
  • Men over-index on Reddit and X; women over-index on Facebook and Pinterest.
• Device and format: Mobile dominates (>80% of sessions). Vertical video and image carousels outperform text-only posts; concise captions with clear calls-to-action perform best.

Method and sources

• Estimates combine Roanoke County age/sex structure (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023) with U.S. platform adoption by age (Pew Research Center, Social Media Use in 2024) and overall penetration/time-spent benchmarks (DataReportal/Hootsuite, Digital 2024: USA). Figures are modeled to the county’s older-than-average age mix; expect ±2–4 percentage points variance by platform.