In order to promote cultural variety, encourage local involvement, and provide a voice to underrepresented groups, community radio stations (CRS) have become essential venues. Using information from 339 publications in the English language indexed in the Scopus database between 2000 and 2024, this bibliometric analysis attempts to map the research landscape on CRS methodically over the previous 20 years. This timeframe was chosen to capture significant developments in community radio stations, including policy shifts, technological advancements, and the rise of CRS movements in regions like South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The analysis pinpoints important patterns in the field’s publication output, research hotspots, significant writers, and foundational publications. The data shows a consistent rise in scholarly interest, especially concerning the contribution of CRS to media democratization, community empowerment, and social transformation. A thematic analysis reveals recurrent research themes, such as CRS’s role as an alternative medium, how it affects local development, and the difficulties it faces in maintaining operations. Citation analysis reveals patterns of scholarly collaboration by highlighting the most significant publications and the growth of research networks. This study highlights how CRS has influenced the media environment and how they might support community-based projects. This work advances theoretical knowledge of CRS’s development and continued significance by thoroughly analyzing the scholarly discourse on the subject.