Two Alabama metro areas at opposite ends of the state were among the fastest growing in the nation last year, and we now know more about where they grew.

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Cities in the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley and Huntsville metro areas — the sixth and 15th fastest growing metros in the United States — led the way in population growth in Alabama in 2024, new population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday show.

No city of significant size grew faster than Foley, in Baldwin County. That city of just under 30,000 residents surged by 12% in just one year. The next closest was Athens at just 5.3%.

Since 2020, Foley has grown by a remarkable 36%. Both growth figures are by far the fastest for Alabama cities with at least 10,000 people.

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Following Athens was Madison, which grew by nearly 5%. Both cities are in the Huntsville metro area. Huntsville itself landed just outside the top 10 for growth rate, but in terms of raw population gain, no city in Alabama added more people than the Rocket City.

Back in Baldwin County, Fairhope was the fourth fastest growing city in Alabama, with a growth rate of 4%.

Opelika, near Auburn in Lee County, rounded out the top 5 with 3.9% growth.

A few mid-sized suburbs of major Alabama cities helped round out the top 10:

No. 6: Pike Road, southeast of Montgomery, grew by 3.1%

No. 7: Chelsea, south of Birmingham, grew 2.8%

No. 8: Gulf Shores, a hot beach destination in Baldwin county, had 2.7% growth

No. 9: Prattville, near Montgomery, grew 1.9%

No. 10: Cullman, between Birmingham and Huntsville on Interstate 65, had 1.9% growth.

Ramsey Archibald is an award winning data reporter and editor at al.com. To read more Alabama data stories, click here. Have an idea for an Alabama data story? Email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter and Bluesky.