Rolla is a medium-sized city located in the state of Missouri. With a population of 20,423 people and eight associated neighborhoods, Rolla is the 35th largest community in Missouri.Rolla is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Rolla is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Rolla who work in teaching (12.55%), office and administrative support (11.53%), and sales jobs (8.91%). Rolla is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Rolla have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Rolla’s economy is one such example of this. One of the benefits of Rolla is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 15.20 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.The citizens of Rolla are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 35.47% of adults in Rolla have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Rolla in 2022 was $23,580, which is lower middle income relative to Missouri, and low income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $94,320 for a family of four. However, Rolla contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Rolla is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Rolla home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Rolla residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Rolla include German, Irish, English, French, and Italian. The most common language spoken in Rolla is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Langs. of India.
