In addition, Rolla is a major college town that has a very high percentage of its residents over 18 years old who are college students. Naturally, collegiate life has a major influence on local Rolla culture, lifestyle and entertainment options. Rolla really pulses to the beat of the academic calendar. In Rolla every fall, returning students reinvigorate the community, who you will notice are all over town, buying groceries, out with friends, and getting acquainted or re-acquainted with each other and Rolla. One of the beneficial effects that colleges provide is that they tend to be lasting institutions that deliver direct economic benefits to the local economy in the form of such things as jobs for faculty and staff, and spending by students. Rolla benefits directly from this.
Rolla, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.
One of the benefits of Rolla is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 14.98 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.
Rolla is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
The population of Rolla is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 36.67% of adults in Rolla have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Rolla in 2022 was $23,040, 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 $92,160 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.
