Mobile, Alabama population is 200,824 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #129 nationally and #2 in Alabama. Cost of living runs 12% below the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); a family of four needs roughly $78,480/yr to break even (2025 modeled). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
At a glance.
2025 population
200,824
-788 in the last year
Top 1% of 19,483 U.S. cities
Census Vintage 2025
Cost of living
RPP 88.1
−12% vs US
Mobile, AL metro · BEA 2024
Family-of-4 budget
$78,480/yr
−2.0% vs US
Modeled 2025 · federal sources
Median HH income
$53,558
−31% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
Median home value
$193,300
−36% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
2-BR fair-market rent
$1,083/mo
HUD FY2026 · 40th pct
Avg July high
91°F
NOAA 1991–2020
Gigabit broadband
64%
ISP-reported, FCC BDC
How many people live in Mobile?
200,824 people live in Mobile as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #129 largest U.S. city.
Source detail
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 2.9% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 206,900 → 2025: 200,824 (-2.9%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
206,900
April 1, 2020
2020
206,485
July 1, 2020
2021
204,803
July 1, 2021
2022
202,772
July 1, 2022
2023
202,114
July 1, 2023
2024
201,612
July 1, 2024
2025
200,824
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 3.1% from 2010 to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Mobile is the #129 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #2 in Alabama.
▸ Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
206,900
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
-6,076
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
-2.9%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
-788
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
-0.4%
within V2025 only
Density
1,331
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
150.8
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#129
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#2
of 463 in Alabama
What is the median household income in Mobile?
Median household income is 31% below the U.S. median ($53,558 vs $77,719); 18.4% live in poverty — 5.9 points above the 12.5% U.S. rate.
Median household income$53,558
US
Mobile: $53,558 — 31% below the US median of $77,719.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data
Mobile
$53,558
United States
$77,719
Income and poverty estimates for Mobile 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
53,558-31.1% vs US
±1,982
Per capita income
33,935-21.6% vs US
±1,053
Population in poverty
18.4%
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 36% below the U.S. median ($193,300 vs $303,400); median rent is 21% below ($1,068 vs $1,348); price-to-income ratio (3.6×) is roughly in line with the U.S. median (3.9×).
Median home value$193,300
US
Mobile: $193,300 — 36% below the US median of $303,400.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$1,083/mo
US
Mobile: $1,083/mo — 1% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2024 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Mobile. 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)
4.1%
Mobile (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
86,027
2024 annual avg
Worked from home
9.3%-33.9% vs US
share of workers 16+ commuting from home · U.S. median: 14% · ACS
County context — Mobile sits in Mobile County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Mobile County
16.7%
$60,321
3.8%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Mobile's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2024 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
24,762
$1,199 / wk
#2
Retail trade (44-45)
19,509
$739 / wk
#3
Manufacturing (31-33)
17,741
$1,719 / wk
#4
Accommodation and food services (72)
15,918
$441 / wk
#5
Construction (23)
12,792
$1,411 / wk
What workers earn in the Mobile, 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 Mobile, AL metro (5,260 jobs, median $79,490/yr).
▸ Show all 12 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Stockers and Order Fillers
3,840
$35,070
$16.86
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
3,780
$42,840
$20.60
Cashiers
3,710
$28,240
$13.58
Fast Food and Counter Workers
3,160
$23,510
$11.31
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
2,570
$37,230
$17.90
Waiters and Waitresses
2,510
$26,860
$12.91
Registered Nurses · benchmark
5,260
$79,490
$38.22
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
4,900
$29,710
$14.28
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
3,510
$51,010
$24.53
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
2,750
$106,690
$51.29
Software Developers · benchmark
1,050
$122,540
$58.91
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
All items run 11.9% below the U.S. average (RPP 88.1); rents run 39.9% below (RPP 60.1) — the metro's housing affordability is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 88.1
US
Mobile's cost of living runs 11.9% below the U.S. average (RPP 88.1 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 88.1
−11.9% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Mobile, AL metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$1,083/mo
FY2026 · Mobile, AL MSA
State income tax (top marginal rate)
5.00%
3 brackets · TY2025
Family-of-four monthly budget total
$6,540/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources
Single-adult monthly budget total
$4,050/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources
Local income tax
—
not applicable in Alabama · no modeled local income tax
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 (41°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 64.5 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Mobile 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 score: 98.0/100 — Relatively High nationally; top hazard: Hurricane (99.4).
Natural-hazard exposure for Mobile 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.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Mobile County
98.0
Relatively High
Hurricane 99.4 Very High · Lightning 98.4 Very High · Heat Wave 96.0 Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Mobile?
18 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 64% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Mobile from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of June 30, 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
18 + 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
63.9%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
63.9%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
102,349
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of June 30, 2025 · methodology →
How much crime is reported in Mobile?
In 2024, law enforcement reported 1,783 violent and 3,970 property offenses in the Mobile jurisdiction — a violent-crime rate of 752.0 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: Mobile — an FBI jurisdiction population of 237,092, versus the Census place population of 200,824. 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
1,783
752.0
359.1
Property crime
3,970
1,674.5
1,760.1
▸ Offense breakdown and 3-year trend
Offense, 2024
Count
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
39
Rape
62
Robbery
125
Aggravated assault
1,557
Burglary
743
Larceny-theft
2,818
Motor vehicle theft
409
Arson (12-month reporters only)
8
Year
Violent /100k
Property /100k
Jurisdiction pop.
2022
926.8
3,013.1
239,323
2023
901.6
2,487.5
237,469
2024
752.0
1,674.5
237,092
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: Mobile · methodology → · FBI Crime Data Explorer →
In-state context.
Mobile sits at state rank #2 among 463 cities in Alabama. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Peoria, AZ · #128 · 200,881 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Vancouver, WA · #130 · 199,698 residents.
Quick travel facts for Mobile
Quick travel facts.
Nearest commercial airport
Mobile Regional Airport(MOB) ·
8 mi 13 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Mar, Oct, Nov · 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 Elevation Point Query Service (3DEP) · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (FAA-aligned, type=large/medium, scheduled_service=yes) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Mobile.
How many people live in Mobile, AL?
Mobile has 200,824 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #129 largest city in the United States and #2 in Alabama. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Mobile growing or shrinking?
Mobile has shrunk 2.9% since the April 2020 census baseline, losing 6,076 residents, including a 0.4% decline from 2024 to 2025. Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
The GEOID for Mobile is 0150000. 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.
