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Alabama Population Growth

Southron

By Southron
in Alabama

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kayman Town

kayman

Posted
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FINALLY!!!!!! We are finally catching up with our neighboring states in growth rates! I was starting to get sick of the fact that we were at the rockbottom of the Southern states' growth rates. I heard that we are now 1.1%, and that is very comparable to North Carolina which has a rate of 1.3-1.5% even though they are twice as large as us in population.

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DruidCity Hamlet

DruidCity

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Alabama metro growth patterns this decade, 2006 census estimate released

http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/SUB-EST2006-4.html

Birmingham - The city itself continues to lose about 1% of its population per year, which

is very disappointing. It's down from 242.4k in 2000 to just 229.4k in 2006.

I'm surprised that Homewood is losing population at a rate similar to Bessemer.

Hoover continues to grow, as I think everyone would guess, but Hoover's rate of growth

is no longer as high as suburbs that are even farther out, like Trussville, Moody, Pell City, and Pelham.

Mobile-Baldwin - City population is down over 6,000 from 2000 to 2006. However, 2006 is a

2,000 gain over 2005, so maybe a new upward trend is in store. To my surprise, Prichard's population is holding

up okay. Despite a lot of negative press and a tremendous real estate crash, the Baldwin County

coast continues to add residents at a strong pace, with Foley and Gulf Shores each increasing population by

over 50% from 2000 to 2006, and Orange Beach pretty close to that rate.

Montgomery - After years of trending flat to slightly decreasing, Montgomery's city population made a healthy move forward from 2005 to 2006, adding over 2,600 residents, to pull back slightly ahead of the 2000 mark.

Suburban areas like Prattville (up over 5,000 since 2000) and Wetumpka (up 1,500 since 2000) are growing at a much stronger pace.

Huntsville-Decatur - City pop. up 8,700 from 2000 + Madison added over 7,000, and Athens 3,000.

Decatur's gain was decent, but much more modest at 1,600. Of course, when the BRAC jobs come in,

the whole area should race forward even more.

Dothan - The city quietly gained 6,000 people in 6 years. The Circle City among the state's leaders - who knew ?

Being at the corner of FL and GA, two states that have been growing much faster than AL, has to help.

Auburn - A whopping 8,000 gain for the city, and I expect the pace to continue, as Columbus and Montgomery

metro areas continue to create lots of good jobs, yet Auburn is the only major college or draw of any sort

for young people in the Montgomery-Columbus corridor.

Tuscaloosa - The city added almost as many residents (5,000) from 2000 to 2006 as Hoover did.

Northport gained about 2,000, but suburbs farther out (Coaling, Coker, Brookwood) actually lost population.

One other suburb that is starting to grow a little is Moundville. Arguments against sprawl aside,

this is welcome news for long-declining Hale County.

Gadsden - The city has lost population every year this decade.

Anniston-Oxford - Oxford is growing at a faster rate than Anniston is shrinking. What was once clearly

a city-suburb relationship is getting closer to two municipalities of equal size.

Quad Cities - Florence, Tuscumbia, and Muscle Shoals are up slightly, and Sheffield down slightly.

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Alabadrock Hamlet

Alabadrock

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Most of this doesn't surprise me.

Birmingham, they have slowed their decline by a good bit if I'm not mistaken.

Mobile, going to get growing a lot after Thyssen-Krupp moves in.

Huntsville, Madison and Athens are just benefitting off of Huntsville's growth. Madison is seeing a bit of economic growth because of the increase in population over the entire metro area.

Montgomery, I expect this area to start growing a bit fast within the next decade. I wouldn't be surprised if Montgomery passed Birmingham by 2025.

Tuscaloosa, has seen a lot of growth. I'm thinking it's spin off from Birmingham Area, cause I don't know what else it could be, we don't get many updates about Tuscaloosa on Urbanplanet.

Decatur, I think that once Huntsville edges closer to the river in Limestone County, Decatur will finally start growing. Most of the city's problem with growth is due to lack of space, being surrounded by water on three sides. Also, if that new industrial park get's built correctly between Hartselle and Falkville, there will be even more growth.

Florence, it's hard to say. They just aren't seeing enough job growth. It's a beautiful place, but, you have to have jobs there.

Dothan, they're growth, I believe, is mainly due to them being a regional center. Being so far away from Montgomery can help at times.

Auburn, like you said, I think is growing off of Montgomery and Columbus.

Anniston Oxford, I know Oxford is going to pass Anniston soon, it's just a matter of time. They've been benefitting off of being wedged between Birmingham and Atlanta.

Gadsden, they've been rebounding in my opinion. Not in population, but, economically, and they've also improved the look of the city a lot.

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Southron Burg

Southron

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I'm surprised that Mobile didn't get more of a bump from the post-Katrina influx. The continuing slide of Birmingham is really sad to see. Hopefully a new mayor will help reverse that situation. Montgomery looks to have turned the corner and is likely to see population growth for a while, and Huntsville's booming growth will probably continue for decades.

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kayman Town

kayman

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Birmingham's plunge is debtful to stop anytime soon. There will have to be at least a half-a-decade worth of citywide economic turnaround combined with the city schools being vastly improved before we see Birmingham's numbers plateau.

Montgomery is going to continue to inch closer to becoming the state's largest. However, when or if it surpasses Birmingham is still up in the air.

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Southron Burg

Southron

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Alabama is beginning to show signs of becoming a destination state in the southeast. According to Census estimates, net migration in Alabama in 2006-07 was higher than for 35 other states and the District of Columbia. The net gain of 18,427 was more than triple what it was three years earlier.

Net migration numbers for some recent years:

2001-02: 8,445 net loss

2002-03: 5,009 gain

2004-05: 16,445 gain

2006-07: 18,427 gain

Birmingham News: Higher net migration than 35 states

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Huntsville_secede Whistle-Stop

Huntsville_secede

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Alabama is beginning to show signs of becoming a destination state in the southeast. According to Census estimates, net migration in Alabama in 2006-07 was higher than for 35 other states and the District of Columbia. The net gain of 18,427 was more than triple what it was three years earlier.

Net migration numbers for some recent years:

2001-02: 8,445 net loss

2002-03: 5,009 gain

2004-05: 16,445 gain

2006-07: 18,427 gain

Birmingham News: Higher net migration than 35 states

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