Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Alabama

Cities in Alabama by population

Huntsville, AL had the highest population of 66 cities in 2021, at 218,727. Pike Road, AL had the lowest, at 9,938. The median was 18,987 and the figure for Alabama was 5.05 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest218,727Huntsville, AL
Lowest9,938Pike Road, AL
Median18,98766 cities
Alabama5,050,058History

Top 40 cities, 2021

Huntsville, AL: 218,727 personsHuntsville, AL218,727Mobile, AL: 204,803 personsMobile, AL204,803Montgomery, AL: 198,395 personsMontgomery, AL198,395Birmingham, AL: 197,660 personsBirmingham, AL197,660Tuscaloosa, AL: 110,565 personsTuscaloosa, AL110,565Hoover, AL: 92,482 personsHoover, AL92,482Auburn, AL: 79,240 personsAuburn, AL79,240Dothan, AL: 71,022 personsDothan, AL71,022Madison, AL: 58,248 personsMadison, AL58,248Decatur, AL: 56,856 personsDecatur, AL56,856Florence, AL: 41,068 personsFlorence, AL41,068Vestavia Hills, AL: 38,880 personsVestavia Hills, AL38,880Phenix City, AL: 38,411 personsPhenix City, AL38,411Prattville, AL: 38,278 personsPrattville, AL38,278Alabaster, AL: 33,732 personsAlabaster, AL33,732Gadsden, AL: 33,534 personsGadsden, AL33,534Opelika, AL: 31,567 personsOpelika, AL31,567Northport, AL: 31,023 personsNorthport, AL31,023Enterprise, AL: 29,394 personsEnterprise, AL29,394Daphne, AL: 28,817 personsDaphne, AL28,817Homewood, AL: 28,070 personsHomewood, AL28,070Athens, AL: 27,058 personsAthens, AL27,058Trussville, AL: 26,364 personsTrussville, AL26,364Bessemer, AL: 25,523 personsBessemer, AL25,523Pelham, AL: 24,511 personsPelham, AL24,511Fairhope, AL: 23,695 personsFairhope, AL23,695Helena, AL: 22,757 personsHelena, AL22,757Albertville, AL: 22,524 personsAlbertville, AL22,524Foley, AL: 22,401 personsFoley, AL22,401Mountain Brook, AL: 22,256 personsMountain Brook, AL22,256Oxford, AL: 22,096 personsOxford, AL22,096Anniston, AL: 21,351 personsAnniston, AL21,351Prichard, AL: 19,106 personsPrichard, AL19,106Cullman, AL: 18,868 personsCullman, AL18,868Troy, AL: 17,549 personsTroy, AL17,549Selma, AL: 17,428 personsSelma, AL17,428Calera, AL: 17,402 personsCalera, AL17,402Millbrook, AL: 16,887 personsMillbrook, AL16,887Gardendale, AL: 16,781 personsGardendale, AL16,781Muscle Shoals, AL: 16,703 personsMuscle Shoals, AL16,703Huntsville, AL: 218,727 personsHuntsville, AL218,727Mobile, AL: 204,803 personsMobile, AL204,803Montgomery, AL: 198,395 personsMontgomery, AL198,395Birmingham, AL: 197,660 personsBirmingham, AL197,660Tuscaloosa, AL: 110,565 personsTuscaloosa, AL110,565Hoover, AL: 92,482 personsHoover, AL92,482Auburn, AL: 79,240 personsAuburn, AL79,240Dothan, AL: 71,022 personsDothan, AL71,022Madison, AL: 58,248 personsMadison, AL58,248Decatur, AL: 56,856 personsDecatur, AL56,856Florence, AL: 41,068 personsFlorence, AL41,068Vestavia Hills, AL: 38,880 personsVestavia Hills, AL38,880Phenix City, AL: 38,411 personsPhenix City, AL38,411Prattville, AL: 38,278 personsPrattville, AL38,278Alabaster, AL: 33,732 personsAlabaster, AL33,732Gadsden, AL: 33,534 personsGadsden, AL33,534Opelika, AL: 31,567 personsOpelika, AL31,567Northport, AL: 31,023 personsNorthport, AL31,023Enterprise, AL: 29,394 personsEnterprise, AL29,394Daphne, AL: 28,817 personsDaphne, AL28,817Homewood, AL: 28,070 personsHomewood, AL28,070Athens, AL: 27,058 personsAthens, AL27,058Trussville, AL: 26,364 personsTrussville, AL26,364Bessemer, AL: 25,523 personsBessemer, AL25,523Pelham, AL: 24,511 personsPelham, AL24,511Fairhope, AL: 23,695 personsFairhope, AL23,695Helena, AL: 22,757 personsHelena, AL22,757Albertville, AL: 22,524 personsAlbertville, AL22,524Foley, AL: 22,401 personsFoley, AL22,401Mountain Brook, AL: 22,256 personsMountain Brook, AL22,256Oxford, AL: 22,096 personsOxford, AL22,096Anniston, AL: 21,351 personsAnniston, AL21,351Prichard, AL: 19,106 personsPrichard, AL19,106Cullman, AL: 18,868 personsCullman, AL18,868Troy, AL: 17,549 personsTroy, AL17,549Selma, AL: 17,428 personsSelma, AL17,428Calera, AL: 17,402 personsCalera, AL17,402Millbrook, AL: 16,887 personsMillbrook, AL16,887Gardendale, AL: 16,781 personsGardendale, AL16,781Muscle Shoals, AL: 16,703 personsMuscle Shoals, AL16,703
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Huntsville, AL218,727+1.1%
2Mobile, AL204,803-0.8%
3Montgomery, AL198,395-0.8%
4Birmingham, AL197,660-1.3%
5Tuscaloosa, AL110,565+4.7%
6Hoover, AL92,482-0.2%
7Auburn, AL79,240+2.8%
8Dothan, AL71,022-0.1%
9Madison, AL58,248+1.8%
10Decatur, AL56,856-0.5%
11Florence, AL41,068+1.2%
12Vestavia Hills, AL38,880-0.8%
13Phenix City, AL38,411-1.1%
14Prattville, AL38,278+1.2%
15Alabaster, AL33,732+1%
16Gadsden, AL33,534-1%
17Opelika, AL31,567+1.5%
18Northport, AL31,023-0.6%
19Enterprise, AL29,394+1.9%
20Daphne, AL28,817+3.8%
21Homewood, AL28,070+2.5%
22Athens, AL27,058+5.2%
23Trussville, AL26,364+0.6%
24Bessemer, AL25,523-1.6%
25Pelham, AL24,511+1.1%
26Fairhope, AL23,695+2.6%
27Helena, AL22,757+2.1%
28Albertville, AL22,524+0.5%
29Foley, AL22,401+6.8%
30Mountain Brook, AL22,256-1.1%
31Oxford, AL22,096-0.1%
32Anniston, AL21,351-0.7%
33Prichard, AL19,106-0.9%
34Cullman, AL18,868+2.2%
35Troy, AL17,549-0.6%
36Selma, AL17,428-2.2%
37Calera, AL17,402+4.7%
38Millbrook, AL16,887+2%
39Gardendale, AL16,781+2.3%
40Muscle Shoals, AL16,703+2%
41Hueytown, AL16,531-1.4%
42Saraland, AL16,494+1%
43Center Point, AL16,086-1.4%
44Gulf Shores, AL15,814+3.4%
45Chelsea, AL15,749+3.3%
46Hartselle, AL15,651+0.4%
47Scottsboro, AL15,641+0.4%
48Fort Payne, AL14,868+0.1%
49Talladega, AL14,716-2.8%
50Alexander City, AL14,700-0.9%
51Jasper, AL14,404-1%
52Ozark, AL14,260-0.5%
53Jacksonville, AL14,086-1.5%
54Moody, AL13,485+1.9%
55Irondale, AL13,470-0.1%
56Pell City, AL13,284+2.4%
57Eufaula, AL12,711-1.2%
58Sylacauga, AL12,373-1.4%
59Leeds, AL12,321-0.5%
60Russellville, AL10,814-0.4%
61Spanish Fort, AL10,398+2.8%
62Valley, AL10,380-0.4%
63Clay, AL10,298-0.1%
64Rainbow City, AL10,190-0.2%
65Boaz, AL10,174+0.6%
66Pike Road, AL9,938+4.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population.

More on how it is measured
  • Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón).
  • Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January.
  • Iceland and its municipalities: Statistics Iceland, 1 January.
  • United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July.
  • United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June.
  • Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
  • UN World Population Prospects estimates for 1 July cover the years before 1960 and the areas the World Bank does not publish, such as Taiwan.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in Alabama by population, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Alabama by population, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/alabama-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in Alabama by population, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/alabama-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Alabama by population, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/alabama-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_alabama_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Alabama by population, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/alabama-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Alabama by population, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/alabama-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/alabama-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Huntsville, AL, with 218,727 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Pike Road, AL, with 9,938 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings

Cities in Alabama: more rankings