FIPS code 51770 is Roanoke city, Virginia. With a population of 99,213 (2022 ACS estimate), it ranks #19 in Virginia and #607 nationally. Roanoke city is part of the Roanoke, VA. The state FIPS code for Virginia is 51. This code is used in Census Bureau, BLS, EPA, HUD, and USDA federal datasets to identify this county.
County FIPS
51770
Population
99,213
2022 ACS · #607 nationally
Density
2,331.1/mi²
people per sq mile
Land Area
43
sq miles
Urban/Rural
Metro — 250K–1M population
RUCC 2
How This FIPS Code Works
The 5-digit FIPS code 51770 is formed by combining the 2-digit state identifier 51 (Virginia) with the 3-digit county identifier 770. Together they uniquely identify Roanoke city in every US federal dataset. No two counties share the same 5-digit FIPS code.
Census ACS Data for FIPS 51770
From the 2022 ACS 5-year estimates — the same values you'd retrieve by querying the Census API with county FIPS 51770.
Median Household Income
$51,523
ACS B19013_001E
Poverty Rate
19.1%
ACS B17001 (below poverty level)
Median Age
38.1
ACS B01002_001E
Metropolitan Area
Adjacent Counties (2)
Counties that share a border with Roanoke city. Useful for regional analysis — these are the geographies you'd typically include when studying labor markets, commuting zones, or environmental spillovers around FIPS 51770.
Federal Datasets Using Code 51770
FIPS code 51770 appears as the county identifier in the following federal datasets. Analysts joining data across these sources use this code as the common geographic key.
Using FIPS Code 51770 in Code
Common patterns for querying federal datasets by this county's FIPS code. The leading zeros are significant — always treat FIPS codes as strings, not integers.
import requests
url = "https://api.census.gov/data/2022/acs/acs5"
params = {
"get": "NAME,B19013_001E,B01003_001E",
"for": "county:770",
"in": "state:51",
"key": "YOUR_CENSUS_API_KEY",
}
r = requests.get(url, params=params)
data = r.json() # [[header...], [Roanoke city, Virginia, income, pop, ...]-- 5-digit combined FIPS (state + county)
SELECT * FROM your_table WHERE county_fips = '51770';
-- Some datasets store state and county separately
SELECT * FROM your_table
WHERE state_fips = '51'
AND county_fips = '770';
-- ⚠ Never cast to integer — leading zeros are lost:
-- county_fips = 51770 is WRONG for this countylibrary(tidycensus)
get_acs(
geography = "county",
variables = c(income = "B19013_001E", pop = "B01003_001E"),
state = "51",
county = "770",
year = 2022
)ZIP Codes in Roanoke city
ZIP codes do not align perfectly with county boundaries — a single ZIP code can span multiple counties, and a county can contain parts of many ZIP codes. The ratios below (from the Census 2020 ZCTA relationship file) show the land area share of each ZCTA that falls within Roanoke city. Why FIPS ≠ ZIP →
| ZIP Code | % in county |
|---|---|
| 24011 | 100.0% |
| 24013 | 100.0% |
| 24016 | 100.0% |
| 24017 | 100.0% |
| 24022 | 100.0% |
| 24015 | 96.9% |
| 24012 | 49.3% |
| 24014 | 27.8% |
| 24019 | 10.3% |
| 24018 | 6.2% |
| 24179 | 0.4% |