The city is 30 miles (48 km) north of Durham and is a part of the four-county Durham–Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 649,903 as of the 2020 Census.

[5] On August 15, 1941, a mob of 500 attempted to lynch Cy Winstead, a 22-year-old black man, who was accused of raping a white woman and was being held at the Person county court house.

The mob was held off with tear gas by local authorities led by Sheriff M. T. Clayton until Winstead could be safely transferred to the state prison in Raleigh.

[7] To local shock, five of the men were found guilty, receiving prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 months.

[8] Winstead himself later pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit rape and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Freezing rain and sleet occur most winters, and occasionally the area experiences a major, damaging ice storm.

Mayor and City Council members are elected to four-year terms on a non-partisan, at-large basis.

Roxboro businesses include LED lighting, law firms, electrical, textile, manufacturing, aerodynamics, administrative, winery, brokering, food processing, automotive, tobacco agriculture, aluminum and paper products.

[11] Roxboro is also adjacent to North Carolina's Research Triangle region, home to numerous high-tech companies and enterprises.

Largest employers: Other businesses: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,134 people, 3,348 households, and 1,739 families residing in the city.

Person County Parks and Recreation Department offers a wide variety of leisure services throughout the county providing a variety of recreational opportunities including playgrounds, walking tracks, picnic shelters, basketball courts, golf course, putt-putt, bicycling, fishing, swimming, tennis courts, ball fields, volleyball courts, hiking trails, horseshoe pits and restroom facilities at more than 14 sites, more than 6,735 acres (27 km2) of park land, including: Other attractions include: The proposed corridor was officially announced in November 2008.