Most State Population Centers Grow Slightly, According to New Census Estimates

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Most of Alabama’s cities that serve as economic and social hubs are growing, according to U.S. Census estimates for 2009 released Tuesday.

“The new estimates for the 2009 populations of Alabama’s cities and towns are not 2010 Census population counts,” said Annette Watters, manager of the State Data Center at The University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research, part of the Culverhouse College of Commerce. “They are, however, the estimates that our country will use until the 2010 Census tabulations are ready next year.”

The numbers are the last estimates for cities before the 2010 census is completed.  Data from that official head count will be used to redraw legislative boundaries and distribute more than $400 billion in federal aid.

Watters said businesses will use the estimates to explore new economic opportunities, and local governments will use them to plan policy for the coming year.

The state itself is estimated to have grown in population by 6 percent, to 4.7 million.

“The central cities of all the metropolitan statistical areas grew between 2008 and 2009, with the exception of Montgomery, which lost about 480 people over that one-year period,” Watters said.  Birmingham, Gadsden and Anniston stayed about the same, population-wise.

Tuscaloosa, however, showed a significant increase. “The city’s population estimate is larger for two reasons,” Watters said. “One is that the Census Bureau revised its estimate of what Tuscaloosa’s population was in 2008. The bureau now gives Tuscaloosa credit for having 1,200 more people in 2008 than previously estimated. Also, the Census Bureau believes Tuscaloosa added another 1,700 people between 2008 and 2009. The result of both factors boosts the estimate for Tuscaloosa to 93,215.”

As has been the case for some time, Hoover also showed a big population increase, gaining an additional 1,900 people in a year’s time. Hoover’s population is now about 72,990.

Watters’ analysis of the Census data also shows Huntsville was a popular destination for new residents. The Census Bureau estimates that Huntsville grew by more than 3,000 in a year’s time, continuing a trend of population growth in all of Madison County. Every town in Madison County has gained population, as has the unincorporated portions of the county.

Auburn is another metro city with fast growth. Auburn gained more than 1,500 people between 2008 and 2009. Opelika is the other central city of the Auburn-Opelika metro area, and Opelika is also a growing city, gaining nearly 460 new residents over this time period.

Dothan’s population gain was also significant at just about 1,000 new residents from 2008 to 2009. Dothan is the elephant-sized city in Houston County, but every town, even the smallest like Madrid and Avon, have seen population increases.

Mobile’s 2008 population estimate was revised upward by more than 1,700 to account for an annexation that didn’t show up in the previous estimates. And the Census Bureau believes that Mobile continued to grow in 2009, adding more than 400 new people other than the ones who came into the city by annexation.

The central cities of Alabama’s other metro areas, Anniston, Oxford, Decatur, Florence and Muscle Shoals each showed gains of several hundred.

Cities in the next tier, Watters said, are called “micropolitan statistical areas.”

“Those are cities that are social and economic hubs of their areas -not quite large enough to be a metropolitan area but large enough to be significant in the region of the state where they are located.  This group of cities is also growing.”

Enterprise is the boom town in this group. Enterprise added more than 680 people in a year’s time. Most of Coffee County’s gain was inside the city limits of Enterprise, but the rest of the county is also attracting some new residents.

“For many years Baldwin County has been the little engine that could,” Watters said. “Daphne, Fairhope and Foley are the major towns in the county. The Census Bureau revised the previous estimates for these towns upward, and then it also acknowledged that this trio of cities continued to add residents at a fast clip. Foley grew by about 175, Fairhope by about 295, and Daphne by 330 between 2008 and 2009. But Spanish Fort is the Baldwin County star for population gain. Between 2008 and 2009 Spanish Fort gained 1,700 new people.”

Albertville in north Alabama saw increased population of nearly 300 between 2008 and 2009.

“Actually, every place in Marshall County is growing, Watters said. “Albertville is the largest city in Marshall County and the one with the most new residents, but even the unincorporated portions of Marshall County are gaining population.”

The city of Cullman reflects what is going on elsewhere in the county. Every city in Cullman County has grown some over this decade. The small towns are not growing as fast as the bigger towns, but all are gaining population.

Alexander City has gained residents this decade, but the other cities in Tallapoosa County have lost population. Job losses have been hard on Tallapoosa County in recent years, but Alexander City has a lot of positives that have proven to be attractive to new residents, according to Watters.

Jackson County is another county hit hard in the economic downturn, Watters said. “The county as a whole has lost population, but Scottsboro and the smaller town of Stevenson seem to have gained a few new residents each. Scottsboro’s population trend seems to have turned around after some losses in the first half of the decade. “

Ozark, Selma, and Tuskegee have had downward population trends for at least a decade, as have most of the other places in their home counties.

Eufaula has seen slow but steady population increases over this decade, but other places in Barbour County are not growing.