Roxana is considered to be part of the Riverbend or Metro East area, including Alton, East Alton, Godfrey, Rosewood Heights, Bethalto, Wood River, Hartford and South Roxana. Roxana is known for its smell, being located in the midst of four oil refineries. It is also well-known for its bright Christmas lights, lining Illinois Route 111, its main street, throughout the holiday season each year. The zip code for Roxana is 62084.
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,547 people, 655 households, and 436 families residing in the village. The population density was 227.5 people per square mile (87.8/km²). There were 697 housing units at an average density of 102.5/sq mi (39.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.51% White, 0.13% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.39% from other races, and 0.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.65% of the population.
There were 655 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.4% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the village the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $38,800, and the median income for a family was $45,500. Males had a median income of $40,078 versus $27,045 for females. The per capita income for the village was $20,511. About 2.5% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.
Roxana is served by Amtrak in Alton, St. Louis Regional Airport (formerly known as Civic Memorial Airport) in Bethalto and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
The nearest interstate highway is Interstate 270, approximately six miles to the south, although Illinois Route 255 is a controlled access highway, meeting federal interstate standards. Easy access can be had to Interstate 55, Interstate 70 and Interstate 64.
Illinois Route 111 (Central Avenue) is the main route through Roxana. It is a four lane, non-divided highway throughout the village, and boasts of the only two stoplights in town (located at Central Avenue's intersections with Thomas Street and Tydeman Street).
Starting at one end of town and proceeding from north to south, the cross streets, all of which run from east to west, of Roxana are: Rohm Place, Thomas Street, Elm Street, Walnut Street, Tydeman Street, First Street, Second Street, Third Street, Fourth Street, Fifth Street, Sixth Street, Seventh Street and Eighth Street. Rohm Place, Elm Street and Walnut Street run only west of Maple Avenue; the others traverse the village from east to west.
Starting at one end of town and proceeding from east to west, the streets of Roxana, all of which run from north to south, are: Chaeffer Avenue, Doerr Avenue, Central Avenue, Reller Avenue, Maple Avenue, McCurdy Avenue, Clark Avenue, and Old Edwardsville Road. Doerr runs only north of Tydeman, as does Reller. Maple runs only north of Fourth Street. McCurdy runs only south of Tydeman and north of Third Street. Clark runs only north of the alley between Elm and Thomas Streets. Chaeffer Avenue runs along the former Shell Refinery fence along the east side of the village. Old Edwardsville Road runs along the former Standard Refinery fence along the west side of the village.
Illinois Route 255 was completed in 1998 and runs through the eastern portion of the village limits, east of the ConocoPhillips refinery. Although the village has plans to develop the area near Route 255, this has not yet occurred.