Birmingham Metro area counties grow over last decade, Birmingham now 2nd largest city

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - The U.S. Census Bureau released data Thursday that shows major growth in several Birmingham metro counties from 2010 to 2020.

According to the data Huntsville is now the largest city, with Birmingham the second largest. But the Birmingham Area Metro is twice the size as the Huntsville Metro.

Birmingham’s population is 200,733, that’s down 1.5 percent since 2010. Huntsville has 215,006 people, that’s up 11.2 percent since 2010.

The Birmingham Metro population is 1.1 million people and the Huntsville Metro has 491,000.

Mayor Randall Woodfin released this statement:

Growth in any city is good for Alabama, good for Birmingham and for our metro region. Birmingham is the nucleus of the state’s largest metro population and economic center. The Magic City continues to evolve as a diverse urban center and leader in regional growth. Our strength as a medical center, emerging hub for tech start-ups and logistics center keeps Birmingham positioned for positive growth in the future. We will closely analyze the Census data to determine how they arrived at these numbers. As we conduct that analysis, I am committed to continued infrastructure, smart renewal and regional cooperation to make Birmingham the best version of itself possible.

County growth by percentage:

Tuscaloosa: 16.6%

Shelby: 14.3%

Cullman: 9.3%

St. Clair: 9%

Chilton: 3.1%

Jefferson: 2.5%

The biggest population gains were in Baldwin, Limestone and Lee counties. Tuscaloosa was fourth with 16.6 percent.

Here are the top 14 Alabama counties ranked by total population in 2020. Jefferson County remains the largest with 674,721 people.