Huntsville, already Alabama’s largest city, is pulling away from the pack. It’s the only one of Alabama’s major cities that’s growing. And it’s growing fast.

The Rocket City added nearly 3,300 people from July 1, 2021 to July 1, 2022, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s about nine new people per day. Huntsville city is now home to roughly 222,000 people, and it’s the only city in Alabama with more than 200,000 residents, as the state’s three other large cities continue to shrink.

Montgomery, the second largest city in Alabama, lost about 1,500 people, while Birmingham – long the most populous in the state until the 2020 Census moved it down the list – lost about 900 people from 2021 to 2022.

The two cities are now virtually tied in population at second, with Montgomery holding a 76-person lead.

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The population loss in Birmingham actually slowed somewhat in 2022, after the city lost about 2,500 during the previous year. Birmingham now sits at 196,910 people, just shy of Montgomery’s 196,986. If this year’s trends hold true through next year, then Birmingham is likely to retake the No. 2 spot from Montgomery – that is, unless Mobile’s annexation plan goes through.

Mobile lost 1,700 people in the latest estimates, continuing a trend of increasingly rapid population loss over the past several years. Mobile has lost around 3,800 people since the 2020 Census – the largest total population loss in an Alabama city during that time.

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Among the 10 largest cities in Alabama, six are growing. Those are Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Dothan, Madison and Decatur. Though some of those barely moved the needle.

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The big movers among the largest cities were Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Madison. Huntsville’s 3,261 new people was by far the largest total gain in the state, more than doubling the next closest.

To put Huntsville’s rapid growth into perspective, the state as a whole added about 24,000 people from 2021 to 2022. That means Huntsville’s population gain represents about 13% of Alabama’s total growth.

Tuscaloosa, the fifth largest city in Alabama and home to the University of Alabama, added about 1,500 people. It’s been on a bit of a tear recently, adding nearly 11,000 people since the 2020 Census – the biggest raw growth spurt in Alabama during that time.

Auburn, home to Auburn University and now the seventh largest city in the state, added about 1,100 people. Both Tuscaloosa and Auburn grew by 1.4% year-over-year.

Meanwhile, Madison – another fast-growing city in the Huntsville metro – added nearly 1,500 people, the fifth largest raw increase in Alabama, good for a growth of 2.4%. That was the fastest rate of growth among the state’s 10 largest cities.

On the other side of things, Hoover – a major city in the Birmingham-Hoover metro – lost population for the second consecutive year. Though it shrank by just 192 people.

Dothan and Decatur just barely grew, adding 202 and 317 people, respectively.

Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Or questions about Alabama that data may be able to answer? Email Ramsey Archibald at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald. Read more Alabama data stories here.