Our Region

The Roanoke Valley region is home to over 300,000 people, making it the largest metropolitan area in Western Virginia and the heart of Virginia's Blue Ridge. The counties of Botetourt, Franklin, and Roanoke, as well as the cities of Roanoke, Salem, and the town of Vinton comprise this beautiful region of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. The Roanoke Valley is known as a wonderful place to live, work, & play and some of the region's accolades include:

• Expansion Management magazine named Roanoke one of the top 50 hottest cities for expansions and relocations.
• Expansions Management also named the Roanoke Valley as a Five-Star Community for quality of life. The rating is based on reasonable cost of living, affordable housing, low crime, excellent transportation access, good public schools, proximity to community colleges and universities, an educated work force, and low taxes.
• Named by Inc. Magazine as one of the 100 best places for business development.
• "Cities Ranked and Rated" ranked Roanoke as the 11th best city in the United States.
• Money Magazine ranked the Roanoke Valley as one of the top three "Best Places to Retire" in the United States.
• Ranked by Forbes.com as one of the 100 best places for businesses and careers. 

Communities

City of Roanoke

City of Salem

Botetourt County

Franklin County

Roanoke County

Smith Mountain Lake

Town of Vinton