Space Command, which was set to move to Huntsville, may not be coming to Alabama after all.

After a lot of noise, NBC News reported this week that President Joe Biden’s administration plans to halt the move, and will instead keep Space Command in Colorado Springs. Colorado lawmakers have continued to keep up the pressure. Now Alabama lawmakers are outraged.

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But, setting the politics aside, how do the two potential sites stack up? How do Huntsville – the largest city in Alabama and a fast-growing tech hub – and Colorado Springs compare? Here’s a by-the-numbers look.

Population and demographics

Colorado Springs has the advantage of being the larger city of the two potential Space Command sites. It’s home to more than twice as many people as Huntsville, but the Rocket City is gaining, and even though it’s smaller, it punches above its weight in many key factors.

Colorado Springs boasts a population of about 484,000 people, or around 763,000 in its metro area. Huntsville sits at around 215,000 people, with just over 500,000 in the metro area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates last year.

But Huntsville is growing like kudzu. It’s increased in size by 10% since 2016, according to the Census. Colorado Springs has grown by 4% over that time. And despite the difference in size, Huntsville has actually added more total people during that time.

Huntsville’s population is slightly older, with a median age of 38 years old, compared to 35.6 in Colorado Springs.

Huntsville is also slightly more diverse. Some 70% of the population in Colorado Springs is White, compared to 62% in Huntsville.

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Colorado Springs is home to more Hispanic residents – 19% of people there were Hispanic in 2021, compared to 6% in Huntsville.

Education

Both cities have better educated populations than the national average, but Huntsville is one of the most highly educated cities in America. Nearly half of adults 25 or older in Huntsville have a bachelor’s degree or higher. More than 21% have a graduate degree.

Colorado Springs is slightly behind with 43% having at least a bachelor’s degree, and 17% having a graduate degree.

All those numbers are much higher than the national figures.

Income, Cost of Living and Economy

Residents of Colorado Springs enjoy slightly higher income than those in Huntsville, but just barely. The median household income in Colorado Springs was just under $75,000 in 2021, compared to nearly $71,000 in Huntsville.

But Huntsville is significantly more affordable. According to cost of living data from Bankrate.com, the cost of living in Colorado Springs is about 14.75% more expensive than in Huntsville. For comparison, the median income in Colorado Springs is just 5% higher than Huntsville’s.

Colorado Springs is more expensive in nearly every metric, and especially for home prices and rents. You can see a breakdown of the cost of some expenses in each city in the table below.

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The Huntsville metro area also boasts a higher total gross domestic product per capita – a measure used to show the total economic output of an area. Huntsville had a total GDP of around $68,000 per person in 2022, compared to $57,000 in Colorado Springs.

Miscellaneous

There are a few other ways to compare the two cities. For one thing, if you’re talking about Space Command, the cities’ nicknames don’t compare. Huntsville is the Rocket City, and Colorado Springs is Little London. Not very patriotic.

Also, Huntsville has been ranked among the best places to live on the U.S. News and World Report’s list for several years in a row, including No. 2 this year, down from No. 1 last year. Colorado Springs isn’t even the best place to live in Colorado, according to that list (though it is No. 9 in the nation). And the local paper seems concerned

A comparison of the two cities’ minor league baseball teams reveals both are actually pretty cool. The Rocky Mountain Vibes have a s’mores mascot, while the Rocket City Trash Pandas have a raccoon eating garbage. Both get 10s out of 10 from this reporter.

And the teams got in some minor twitter beef last year:

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.