Latest Census city estimates released May 14, 2026 · Population as of July 1, 2025 · Next city estimates scheduled for May 2027. Release schedule
Birmingham, Alabama population is 195,893 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #132 nationally and #3 in Alabama. Cost of living runs 8.4% below the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); the four-person spending scenario corresponds to modeled gross income of $94,472/yr (TY2026 tax assumptions; partial scenario excluding unverified local income tax). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
195,893 people live in Birmingham as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #132 largest U.S. city.
How big is Birmingham?
Birmingham covers 147.0 square miles of land and 2.5 square miles of water. Its population density is about 1,333 residents per square mile of land. Compare U.S. cities by land area →
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population shrank 2.3% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 200,486 → 2025: 195,893 (-2.3%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
200,486
April 1, 2020
2020
200,226
July 1, 2020
2021
197,660
July 1, 2021
2022
196,972
July 1, 2022
2023
197,001
July 1, 2023
2024
196,789
July 1, 2024
2025
195,893
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population shrank 1.4% from the July 2010 estimate to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Birmingham is the #132 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #3 in Alabama.
▸Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
200,486
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
-4,593
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
-2.3%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
-896
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
-0.5%
within V2025 only
Density
1,333
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
146.9
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#132
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#3
of 463 in Alabama
What is the median household income in Birmingham?
Same-period U.S. benchmarks: household income $80,734 ± $166; per-capita income $44,673 ± $122. Margins are at 90% confidence. Comparison badges describe point estimates; they are not significance tests.
Median household income is 43% below the U.S. median ($46,051 vs $80,734); 24.7% live in poverty, 12.2 points above the 12.5% U.S. estimate.
Median household income$46,051
US
Birmingham: $46,051 — 43% below the US median of $80,734.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data; censored rows retained in the distribution
Birmingham
$46,051
United States
$80,734
Income and poverty estimates for Birmingham from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
$46,051-43.0% vs US
±$1,718
Per capita income
$32,216-27.9% vs US
±$1,201
Population in poverty
24.7% ± 1.5 percentage points
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 52% below the U.S. median ($158,800 vs $332,700); median rent is 22% below ($1,107 vs $1,413); the ratio of median home value to median household income is 3.4× versus 4.1× nationally; this compares two distributions and does not measure an individual household's housing burden.
Median home value$158,800
US
Birmingham: $158,800 — 52% below the US median of $332,700.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data; censored rows retained in the distribution
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$1,266/mo
US
Birmingham: $1,266/mo — 18% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Same-period U.S. benchmarks: home value $332,700 ± $236; gross rent $1,413 ± $2. Comparison badges describe estimates and do not establish statistical significance.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median value, owner-occupied units
$158,800-52.3% vs US
±$8,824
Median gross rent
$1,107-21.7% vs US
±$21
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR (FY2026)
$1,266-12.6% vs US
Birmingham-Hoover, AL HUD Metro FMR Area· 40th-percentile gross rent · HUD methodology
Owner-occupied share
45.5% ± 1.2 percentage points
of occupied housing units
Price-to-income ratio
3.4x± 0.23x approximate 90% MOE-16.3% vs US
median home value ÷ median household income · U.S. ratio: 4.1x
Rent-burdened (≥30% of income)
55.6% ± 2.7 percentage points+8.7% vs US
renters with a computed rent/income ratio · U.S. share: 51.1%
Severely rent-burdened (≥50%)
29.9% ± 2.1 percentage points+15.6% vs US
renters with a computed rent/income ratio · U.S. share: 25.9%
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2025 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Birmingham. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
3.5%
Birmingham (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
94,222
2025 annual avg
Worked from home
9.9% ± 1.0 percentage points-34.4% vs US
share of workers 16+ working from home · U.S. share: 15.1% · ACS
County context — Birmingham spans 2 counties; all are listed (no weighted average):
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Jefferson County
14.2%
$69,346
2.9%
Shelby County
6.8%
$102,861
2.2%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Birmingham's linked 2 counties in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2025 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
58,905
$1,440 / wk
#2
Retail trade (44-45)
47,498
$808 / wk
#3
Accommodation and food services (72)
37,757
$532 / wk
#4
Finance and insurance (52)
28,685
$2,356 / wk
#5
Administrative and waste services (56)
27,580
$883 / wk
What workers earn in the Birmingham, AL metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Registered Nurses is the largest tracked occupation in the Birmingham, AL metro (17,850 jobs, median $78,680/yr).
▸Show all 12 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
10,900
$44,580
$21.43
Stockers and Order Fillers
10,890
$35,660
$17.14
Cashiers
10,690
$29,310
$14.09
Fast Food and Counter Workers
10,080
$27,020
$12.99
Customer Service Representatives
9,850
$40,530
$19.49
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
8,200
$37,500
$18.03
Registered Nurses · benchmark
17,850
$78,680
$37.83
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
15,280
$31,450
$15.12
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
9,170
$54,460
$26.18
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
7,950
$123,560
$59.40
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
All items run 8.4% below the U.S. average (RPP 91.6); rents run 28.1% below (RPP 71.9) — the metro's housing affordability is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 91.6
US
Birmingham's cost of living runs 8.4% below the U.S. average (RPP 91.6 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 91.6
−8.4% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Birmingham, AL metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$1,266/mo
FY2026 · Birmingham-Hoover, AL HUD Metro FMR Area
State income tax (top marginal rate)
5.00%
3 brackets · TY2026
Four-person monthly spending scenario
$7,873/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources; excludes unverified local income tax
One-person monthly spending scenario
$2,958/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources; excludes unverified local income tax
Local income tax
—
Unverified and excluded from the spending scenario; not a verified zero
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
Hottest month: July (91°F avg high). Coldest: January (33°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 56.6 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Birmingham from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Composite risk spans 90.3–97.6/100 across 2 counties; most-cited top hazard is Tornado (in all 2).
Natural-hazard exposure for Birmingham from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
Birmingham spans 2 counties. We list each separately because hurricane, flood, and fire risk varies meaningfully across county lines — manufacturing a single “city-level” risk score would hide that signal.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Jefferson County
97.6
Relatively High
Tornado 99.6 Very High · Lightning 99.5 Very High · Cold Wave 98.5 Relatively High
Shelby County
90.3
Relatively Moderate
Tornado 98.3 Relatively High · Landslide 92.9 Relatively Moderate · Lightning 91.6 Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Birmingham?
15 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 51% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Birmingham from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of December 31, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
15 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
13
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
51.4%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
51.4%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
124,402
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of December 31, 2025 · methodology →
How much crime is reported in Birmingham?
In 2024, law enforcement reported 2,436 violent and 7,878 property offenses in the Birmingham jurisdiction — a violent-crime rate of 1,246.6 per 100,000, above the U.S. estimate of 359.1.
Reported offenses known to law enforcement from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program (CIUS Table 8), 2024. Figures describe the FBI agency jurisdiction: Birmingham — an FBI jurisdiction population of 195,418, versus the Census place population of 195,893. The rate per 100,000 is the FBI's own (count ÷ that jurisdiction population), never divided by the Census place figure. These are reported crimes under voluntary participation — not measured or victimization crime — and the FBI cautions against using them to rank or compare places. See methodology §31.
Offenses known, 2024
Count
Rate /100k
U.S. rate
Violent crime
2,436
1,246.6
359.1
Property crime
7,878
4,031.4
1,760.1
▸Offense breakdown and 3-year trend
Offense, 2024
Count
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
115
Rape
29
Robbery
393
Aggravated assault
1,899
Burglary
1,426
Larceny-theft
4,873
Motor vehicle theft
1,579
Arson (12-month reporters only)
103
Year
Violent /100k
Property /100k
Jurisdiction pop.
2022
1,681.6
4,172.8
195,050
2023
1,549.0
4,564.5
195,224
2024
1,246.6
4,031.4
195,418
Only years the agency reported a complete 12 months appear; the FBI does not estimate missing agency-years, so a gap is a non-reporting year, not zero crime.
U.S. rate is the FBI national estimate (imputes non-reporting agencies); the city figures are reported-only. Source: FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (2022–2024) · FBI agency jurisdiction: Birmingham · methodology → · FBI Crime Data Explorer →
In-state context.
Birmingham sits at state rank #3 among 463 cities in Alabama. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Oxnard, CA · #131 · 199,651 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Providence, RI · #133 · 195,310 residents.
Quick travel facts for Birmingham
Quick travel facts.
Elevation
600 ft · at city centroid, from USGS 3D Elevation Program
Nearest scheduled-service airport
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport(BHM) · 4 mi 6 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Oct · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS 3DEP · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (OurAirports type=large/medium and scheduled_service=yes; not an FAA service classification) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Birmingham.
How many people live in Birmingham, AL?
Birmingham has 195,893 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #132 largest city in the United States and #3 in Alabama. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Birmingham growing or shrinking?
Birmingham has shrunk 2.3% since the April 2020 census baseline, losing 4,593 residents, including a 0.5% decline from 2024 to 2025. Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What was Birmingham's population in the 2020 census?
The GEOID for Birmingham is 0107000. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
