Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Alabama

Cities in Alabama by unemployed people

Mobile, AL had the highest unemployed people of 29 cities in 2021, at 4,614. Fairhope, AL had the lowest, at 238. The median was 495. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest4,614Mobile, AL
Lowest238Fairhope, AL
Median49529 cities

All cities, 2021

Mobile, AL: 4,614 personsMobile, AL4,614Montgomery, AL: 4,590 personsMontgomery, AL4,590Birmingham, AL: 4,398 personsBirmingham, AL4,398Huntsville, AL: 3,005 personsHuntsville, AL3,005Tuscaloosa, AL: 1,955 personsTuscaloosa, AL1,955Dothan, AL: 1,085 personsDothan, AL1,085Hoover, AL: 1,061 personsHoover, AL1,061Auburn, AL: 893 personsAuburn, AL893Decatur, AL: 815 personsDecatur, AL815Gadsden, AL: 654 personsGadsden, AL654Madison, AL: 635 personsMadison, AL635Prichard, AL: 594 personsPrichard, AL594Florence, AL: 587 personsFlorence, AL587Bessemer, AL: 579 personsBessemer, AL579Opelika, AL: 495 personsOpelika, AL495Selma, AL: 487 personsSelma, AL487Anniston, AL: 477 personsAnniston, AL477Prattville, AL: 471 personsPrattville, AL471Phenix City, AL: 439 personsPhenix City, AL439Vestavia Hills, AL: 430 personsVestavia Hills, AL430Northport, AL: 420 personsNorthport, AL420Alabaster, AL: 380 personsAlabaster, AL380Daphne, AL: 380 personsDaphne, AL380Enterprise, AL: 338 personsEnterprise, AL338Homewood, AL: 307 personsHomewood, AL307Foley, AL: 297 personsFoley, AL297Athens, AL: 285 personsAthens, AL285Trussville, AL: 250 personsTrussville, AL250Fairhope, AL: 238 personsFairhope, AL238Mobile, AL: 4,614 personsMobile, AL4,614Montgomery, AL: 4,590 personsMontgomery, AL4,590Birmingham, AL: 4,398 personsBirmingham, AL4,398Huntsville, AL: 3,005 personsHuntsville, AL3,005Tuscaloosa, AL: 1,955 personsTuscaloosa, AL1,955Dothan, AL: 1,085 personsDothan, AL1,085Hoover, AL: 1,061 personsHoover, AL1,061Auburn, AL: 893 personsAuburn, AL893Decatur, AL: 815 personsDecatur, AL815Gadsden, AL: 654 personsGadsden, AL654Madison, AL: 635 personsMadison, AL635Prichard, AL: 594 personsPrichard, AL594Florence, AL: 587 personsFlorence, AL587Bessemer, AL: 579 personsBessemer, AL579Opelika, AL: 495 personsOpelika, AL495Selma, AL: 487 personsSelma, AL487Anniston, AL: 477 personsAnniston, AL477Prattville, AL: 471 personsPrattville, AL471Phenix City, AL: 439 personsPhenix City, AL439Vestavia Hills, AL: 430 personsVestavia Hills, AL430Northport, AL: 420 personsNorthport, AL420Alabaster, AL: 380 personsAlabaster, AL380Daphne, AL: 380 personsDaphne, AL380Enterprise, AL: 338 personsEnterprise, AL338Homewood, AL: 307 personsHomewood, AL307Foley, AL: 297 personsFoley, AL297Athens, AL: 285 personsAthens, AL285Trussville, AL: 250 personsTrussville, AL250Fairhope, AL: 238 personsFairhope, AL238
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Mobile, AL4,614-47.6%
2Montgomery, AL4,590-45.4%
3Birmingham, AL4,398-49.9%
4Huntsville, AL3,005-49.9%
5Tuscaloosa, AL1,955-51.4%
6Dothan, AL1,085-45.1%
7Hoover, AL1,061-46.7%
8Auburn, AL893-48.3%
9Decatur, AL815-48.8%
10Gadsden, AL654-53.9%
11Madison, AL635-40.2%
12Prichard, AL594-50.7%
13Florence, AL587-52.9%
14Bessemer, AL579-47%
15Opelika, AL495-55.6%
16Selma, AL487-43.2%
17Anniston, AL477-45.7%
18Prattville, AL471-48.8%
19Phenix City, AL439-45.7%
20Vestavia Hills, AL430-32%
21Northport, AL420-48%
22Alabaster, AL380-48.5%
22Daphne, AL380-48.9%
24Enterprise, AL338-44.5%
25Homewood, AL307-39.7%
26Foley, AL297-59.3%
27Athens, AL285-48.1%
28Trussville, AL250-43.8%
29Fairhope, AL238-42.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2021 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. 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. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Alabama by unemployed people, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Alabama by unemployed people, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/alabama-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Alabama by unemployed people, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/alabama-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Alabama by unemployed people, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/alabama-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_alabama_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Alabama by unemployed people, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/alabama-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Alabama by unemployed people, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/alabama-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/alabama-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Alabama by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Mobile, AL, with 4,614 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Fairhope, AL, with 238 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 cities have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Alabama: more rankings