Roanoke, Virginia Region ranks above average in per-household retail sales
Posted by Lee Crawford at 5/24/2010 12:19:00 PMSome call it shopping. We like to think of it as retail therapy.
The Roanoke Region’s retail scene has remained resilient even as other areas held on to their
pocketbooks during the recession, mirroring positive economic trends for the region. Consider:
- Per-household retail sales in the Roanoke MSA is $44,920 – 12 percent above the U.S. average of $39,837.
- Per-household retail sales ranked No. 93 of U.S. metro areas in 2009 – up 52 spots from 2008.
- Median household income within an hour’s drive is projected to grow at a faster rate than Virginia and the United States from 2000 to 2014, according to ESRI, a provider of geographic software and data.
The region’s retail options range from upscale boutiques to down-home shops, and popular national-brand stores to the oldest continuously operating farmer’s market in Virginia.
Thriving retail is a reflection of the region’s economic health.
Roanoke jumped 40 places to No. 39 in the annual Forbes.com 200 Best Places for Business and Careers. Forbes uses cost of doing business, projected job growth and educational attainment to determine the areas with the most economic opportunity.
And the Roanoke Region rose 42 positions to No. 126 of the 200 largest U.S. metro areas in a leading index of economic growth, the 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index. The Milken ranking showed the Roanoke Region was the highest-ranking of Virginia’s major metropolitan areas for high-tech GDP growth from 2007-08.
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