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.
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 education level of Rolla citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 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.
