TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Just more than one-third of Alabama’s counties have experienced population growth since 2000, according to the latest estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and analyzed by the manager of the Alabama State Data Center at The University of Alabama.

Center manager Annette Watters said the estimated figures, made public Thursday, indicate the state’s 24 growing counties are a mix of urban and rural counties.

“All of Alabama’s growth rate since 2000 has occurred in 24 of the 67 counties,” Watters said. “Since the turn of the century, other counties have had populations that neither grew nor declined, and the others have lost population.”

Shelby, Baldwin and Elmore Counties, have grown the fastest of any counties in Alabama since the turn of the century.

“Since 2000, Shelby County has added 22,384 people, a 15.6 percent growth rate,” Watters said. “Baldwin County has added 16,286, an 11.6 percent growth rate. These are the only two counties in the state with double-digit growth rates.” Elmore showed a 9.2 percent growth rate.

Although Shelby County is the fastest-growing county in Alabama, it does not make the list of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Counties in the country since 2000, Watters said. To make that list, Watters said, a county had to have a population of at least 10,000 and a minimum growth rate of 15.9 percent.

Jefferson County remains Alabama’s largest county, but it has lost 3,552 people since 2000, according to the figures. Much of the population loss is from the city of Birmingham, Watters said.

“Although Jefferson County is not growing, the Birmingham metropolitan area is,” Watters said. Four of the seven counties in the metro areas (Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Bibb) are among the top 10 in Alabama for growth rates, and a fifth, Chilton, ranks 11th.

“Three of the 24 growing counties in Alabama are in areas usually thought of as very rural,” Watters said. Cherokee, Cleburne and Randolph counties, sit one atop the other on the eastern border of the state. “Each of these three counties has gained a few hundred people over the last four years.”

It’s helpful to remember the distinction between growth rate rankings and total number of people added, Watters said.

“A small population county may have a large growth rate if it adds even a small number of people,” Watters said. “A large population county can add thousands of people and still have a lower growth rate.

“All counties have had births, deaths, and people moving in and out,” Watters said. “Sometimes the net effect is population growth; sometimes it is population loss; sometimes it’s a wash.”

Four of the 24 counties that have grown during the 21st century are part of the new concept of micropolitan area, Watters said. DeKalb County is the Fort Payne Micro Area; Marshall County is the Albertville Micro Area; Cullman County is the Cullman Micro Area; Coffee and Dale counties together are the Enterprise-Ozark Micro Area. “The new terminology of micropolitan area recognizes that the designated counties anchor a small, but important, local economy centered around a city that is sizeable, but not large enough to be considered a metropolitan area,” Watters said.

Alabama Counties that Have Added the Most Number of People Since 2000

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census, Population Estimates Division, Release date, April 14, 2005.

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Alabama Counties with the Fastest Growth Rates

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census, Population Estimates Division, Release date, April 14, 2005.

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Alabama's Largest Population Counties

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census, Population Estimates Division, Release date, April 14, 2005.

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