Southern Business & Development gave Roanoke the distinction as one of the top 10 Great Innovation Markets In The South for 2008.
Forbes.com ranked the Roanoke Valley region in the top 100 Best Places For Business And Careers for 2008.
Recognition of the Information Technology Department for achieving first place in the 2006 Digital Counties Survey for county governments in the population category of 150,000 - 249,999 for the third consecutive year.
For the second year running, Roanoke County was named the most high-tech county in the country for its size. The 2005 Digital Counties Survey conducted by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties has named Roanoke County the most technologically-advanced, cutting-edge county government in the United States in the 150,000-249,999 population category.
The 2004 Digital Counties Survey conducted by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties has named Roanoke County the most technologically-advanced, cutting-edge county government in the United States in the 150,000-249,999 population category.
The Roanoke Valley has been named a Five-Star Community in Expansion Management’s 2004 Quality of Life Quotient.
A University of Kentucky 2004 study rated Roanoke one of the nation's top 20 cities for quality of life.
The Roanoke Valley was ranked 25th on Expansion Management magazine's list of the Top 50 Hottest Cities for business expansion and relocation. The area is also named as a Five-Star Location for expanding and relocating companies, based on low crime rates, affordable housing, low costs of living, good schools and easy access.
Southern Business and Development Magazine ranked Roanoke 10th in the nation in mid-sized and small markets for economic development / job creation.
Expansion Management magazine named Roanoke County public schools a Gold Medal Award winner, indicating that the school system is in the top 17% of public schools in the nation.
The Roanoke Valley has been ranked fourth in Expansion Management 's First Annual Health Quotient, a national ranking of health care costs and resources.
According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Rates (2002), Roanoke is the safest metropolitan area in the state.
A 1999 study by Old Dominion University researchers ranked the Roanoke Valley 11th in the nation in real per capita income, and first among Virginia's metropolitan areas.
Center in the Square, the multi-organizational arts facility in Downtown Roanoke, received a 1999 Downtown Achievement Award from the International Downtown Association. Center in the Square was also named one of five finalists for the 1997 Rudy Bruner Award for Excellence in the Urban Environment.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine named the Roanoke Valley one of the 10 healthiest places to live in the United States.
The Roanoke City Farmer's Market has been named, along with Central Park and the French Quarter, as one of America's Great Public Places.
Parenting magazine has called the Roanoke Valley one of the ten best places to raise a family in the United States.
Money magazine named Roanoke as the third most livable Southern city.
Places Rated Almanac rated Roanoke 59th among 351 metropolitan areas surveyed for quality health care, beating out such places as Cincinnati, Nashville, Denver and Richmond.
The National Association of Homebuilders named Roanoke as the most affordable housing market in Virginia.
Inc. magazine has named the Roanoke Valley one of the U.S.'s top 100 hot spots for business development.
Zero Population Growth, Inc. ranks the Roanoke Valley among the least stressful locations in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Education has recognized Roanoke Valley schools for being among the best in the United States.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has touted downtown Roanoke's revitalization as one of America's ten best.