A year after the pandemic hit, Alabama’s economy had already bounced back, and the beaches were booming.

In fact, the economy was growing faster in most parts of the state in 2021 than before the pandemic. That’s especially true in Birmingham, Huntsville and Montgomery.

That’s according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which shows 45 of Alabama’s 67 counties saw growth in real gross domestic product, or the inflation-adjusted total value of all goods and services produced in a year, when comparing 2019 and 2021.

The state was led by one of its largest and fastest growing counties – Baldwin County.

Baldwin County, home to Alabama’s beaches, saw 10% growth in real GDP in 2021 compared to 2019, the last full year before the pandemic shutdown. Baldwin tied with Cullman County, a smaller county between Birmingham and Huntsville, for the fastest growth in the state over that period.

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The Yellowhammer State’s economic growth halted in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the world in its tracks. But since then, many counties, including some of the state’s largest economies, actually saw growth accelerate.

Jefferson County, home of Birmingham and the largest county in the state, saw a record year for GDP growth in 2021. Jefferson’s GDP increased by 5% between 2020 and 2021, the highest annual growth in more than a decade. That growth more than offset the 2% decline Jefferson County saw in 2020. Prior to the pandemic, Jefferson County’s economy had long been relatively stagnant. It averaged growth of about 1% per year over the past decade.

But in terms of total dollars, 2021 was Jefferson County’s biggest year in two decades, with real GDP reaching $42 billion, topping the previous record set back in 2005, before the economic crash and great recession.

As a whole, Alabama’s GDP increased by 5% in 2021 after falling by 2% in 2020, mirroring Jefferson County. You can search for any Alabama county’s trend line in the chart below.

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Madison County – home to Huntsville and another of the fastest-growing counties in the state – also saw big growth in 2021 and a record GDP. The economy there has been booming for decades, barely slowing down for either the Great Recession or the COVID-19 pandemic. The County’s real GDP reached more than $25 billion in 2021, nearly double its inflation-adjusted number from 2001.

Compared to the first year of the pandemic, the vast majority of counties showed significant signs of recovery in 2021. Fifty-six of Alabama’s 67 counties saw an increase in GDP between 2020 and 2021. The largest year-over-year growth came in Crenshaw County, in South Alabama, where the real GDP increased by nearly 20% after falling off during the shutdown.

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Many counties saw big drops in GDP in 2020, and Crenshaw was the hardest hit. It saw a 15% decline in real GDP between 2019 and 2020.

Still some counties saw declines in GDP even after the end of the initial pandemic shutdowns. Four Black Belt counties – Greene, Hale, Perry and Wilcox – each saw at least a 10% decline in real GDP between 2020 and 2021.

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