These Are The 10 Fastest Growing Cities In Alabama

Is being in an area that’s growing quickly a good thing or a bad thing?

Depends on who you ask. Some want bigger, more exciting cities like Birmingham and Montgomery, while others want peace and quiet like in Tallassee and Smiths Station, thank you very much.

But today we’re going to put opinions aside and just look at the cold hard facts — over the past five years, which cities in Alabama have the grown the fastest.

After getting knee deep in the Census’s American Community Survey, we emerged with this set of cities in the Heart of Dixie that have people climbing over each other to get in:

1. Pike Road
2. Chelsea
3. Calera
4. Gulf Shores
5. Foley
6. Phenix City
7. Fairhope
8. Auburn
9. Madison
10. Spanish Fort

If you happen to be a resident of one of these communities, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on our list.

If you’re not–and you’re wondering why these places are kind of a big deal–keep reading. We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 places in Alabama are growing like weeds–but first, a bit about our methodology.

How We Measured The Fastest Growing Cities In Heart of Dixie

To figure out which cities are growing the most, we simply had to look at the growth rates for cities over the last five years, according to the American Community Survey put out by the census every year. Specifically:

• Population in 2014
• Population in 2010
• Growth rate from 2010 to 2014 (The latest available data)

We ranked all 105 Alabama cities with a population over 5,000 people from highest growth rate to lowest.

The city with the highest growth rate during this time was crowned the fastest growing city in the Heart of Dixie.

And for those of you who are a little rusty with their statistics, you can calculate the growth rate by the following formula:

[Population 2014 – Population 2010] / [Population 2010]

1. Pike Road

Population: 6,605
Population 2010: 5,072
Growth Rate: 30.22%
Absolute Growth: 1,533

2. Chelsea

Population: 11,051
Population 2010: 9,202
Growth Rate: 20.09%
Absolute Growth: 1,849

3. Calera

Population: 12,376
Population 2010: 10,374
Growth Rate: 19.3%
Absolute Growth: 2,002

4. Gulf Shores

Population: 10,523
Population 2010: 9,035
Growth Rate: 16.47%
Absolute Growth: 1,488

5. Foley

Population: 15,428
Population 2010: 13,570
Growth Rate: 13.69%
Absolute Growth: 1,858

6. Phenix City

Population: 35,753
Population 2010: 31,704
Growth Rate: 12.77%
Absolute Growth: 4,049

7. Fairhope

Population: 16,661
Population 2010: 14,927
Growth Rate: 11.62%
Absolute Growth: 1,734

8. Auburn

Population: 56,986
Population 2010: 51,057
Growth Rate: 11.61%
Absolute Growth: 5,929

9. Madison

Population: 44,866
Population 2010: 40,293
Growth Rate: 11.35%
Absolute Growth: 4,573

10. Spanish Fort

Population: 7,357
Population 2010: 6,624
Growth Rate: 11.07%
Absolute Growth: 733

Adding It Up

So there you have it, the fastest growing cities in Alabama are led by Pike Road which has been growing a blistering pace these past five years relative to other places around the state.

It’ll be interesting to see if these places can keep growing at the same pace over the next five years. We’ll be here to let you know!
For more Alabama reading , check out:

• A Hilarious Look At The 10 Most Redneck Cities In Alabama
• 10 Small Towns In Alabama Where You’d Never Want To Live
• These Are The 10 Dumbest Cities In Alabama

Detailed List Of Fastest Growing Places In Alabama

City	Rank	Pop 2014	Pop 2010	Growth	% Growth
Pike Road	1	6,605	5,072	1,533	30.2%
Chelsea	2	11,051	9,202	1,849	20.1%
Calera	3	12,376	10,374	2,002	19.3%
Gulf Shores	4	10,523	9,035	1,488	16.5%
Foley	5	15,428	13,570	1,858	13.7%
Phenix City	6	35,753	31,704	4,049	12.8%
Fairhope	7	16,661	14,927	1,734	11.6%
Auburn	8	56,986	51,057	5,929	11.6%
Madison	9	44,866	40,293	4,573	11.3%
Spanish Fort	10	7,357	6,624	733	11.1%
Athens	11	23,335	21,059	2,276	10.8%
Daphne	12	22,983	20,817	2,166	10.4%
Wetumpka	13	7,136	6,480	656	10.1%
Robertsdale	14	5,556	5,052	504	10.0%
Moody	15	12,124	11,138	986	8.9%
Trussville	16	20,229	18,609	1,620	8.7%
Pelham	17	22,106	20,346	1,760	8.7%
Orange Beach	18	5,629	5,185	444	8.6%
Helena	19	16,752	15,463	1,289	8.3%
Troy	20	18,636	17,207	1,429	8.3%
Enterprise	21	27,375	25,285	2,090	8.3%
Opelika	22	27,956	25,867	2,089	8.1%
Bay Minette	23	8,682	8,052	630	7.8%
Pell City	24	13,128	12,234	894	7.3%
Tallassee	25	5,011	4,683	328	7.0%
Prattville	26	34,349	32,122	2,227	6.9%
Boaz	27	9,781	9,148	633	6.9%
Northport	28	24,092	22,540	1,552	6.9%
Leeds	29	12,063	11,314	749	6.6%
Tuscaloosa	30	93,325	87,663	5,662	6.5%
Fultondale	31	8,593	8,093	500	6.2%
Montevallo	32	6,470	6,101	369	6.0%
Millbrook	33	14,858	14,034	824	5.9%
Hoover	34	82,849	78,543	4,306	5.5%
Jacksonville	35	12,416	11,791	625	5.3%
Dothan	36	67,574	64,299	3,275	5.1%
Huntsville	37	184,132	175,416	8,716	5.0%
Alabaster	38	30,978	29,550	1,428	4.8%
Albertville	39	21,363	20,445	918	4.5%
Lincoln	40	6,321	6,065	256	4.2%
Hartselle	41	14,393	13,840	553	4.0%
Arab	42	8,241	7,928	313	3.9%
Saraland	43	13,657	13,172	485	3.7%
Muscle Shoals	44	13,380	12,986	394	3.0%
Tuscumbia	45	8,565	8,315	250	3.0%
Guntersville	46	8,316	8,077	239	3.0%
Gardendale	47	13,809	13,420	389	2.9%
Oneonta	48	6,623	6,453	170	2.6%
Russellville	49	9,836	9,598	238	2.5%
Rainbow City	50	9,623	9,396	227	2.4%
Florence	51	39,738	38,821	917	2.4%
Vestavia Hills	52	34,061	33,305	756	2.3%
Smiths Station	53	5,095	5,001	94	1.9%
Fort Payne	54	14,115	13,862	253	1.8%
Pleasant Grove	55	10,230	10,048	182	1.8%
Clay	56	9,699	9,527	172	1.8%
Irondale	57	12,399	12,180	219	1.8%
Cullman	58	14,933	14,685	248	1.7%
Daleville	59	5,233	5,157	76	1.5%
Satsuma	60	6,145	6,057	88	1.5%
Clanton	61	8,672	8,554	118	1.4%
Homewood	62	25,420	25,078	342	1.4%
Oxford	63	21,250	20,967	283	1.3%
Southside	64	8,432	8,340	92	1.1%
Atmore	65	10,096	10,008	88	0.9%
Decatur	66	55,641	55,253	388	0.7%
Brewton	67	5,426	5,391	35	0.6%
Greenville	68	7,974	7,924	50	0.6%
Glencoe	69	5,137	5,107	30	0.6%
Andalusia	70	9,048	8,998	50	0.6%
Mountain Brook	71	20,484	20,381	103	0.5%
Center Point	72	16,876	16,810	66	0.4%
Talladega	73	16,034	15,993	41	0.3%
Sylacauga	74	12,786	12,789	-3	-0.0%
Pinson	75	7,141	7,143	-2	-0.0%
Scottsboro	76	14,779	14,795	-16	-0.1%
Montgomery	77	204,095	204,788	-693	-0.3%
Mobile	78	194,942	195,619	-677	-0.3%
Hamilton	79	6,842	6,868	-26	-0.4%
Opp	80	6,675	6,701	-26	-0.4%
Jasper	81	14,247	14,307	-60	-0.4%
Alexander City	82	14,815	14,879	-64	-0.4%
Hueytown	83	15,956	16,032	-76	-0.5%
Ozark	84	14,835	14,909	-74	-0.5%
Valley	85	9,456	9,527	-71	-0.7%
Sheffield	86	9,067	9,141	-74	-0.8%
Midfield	87	5,319	5,384	-65	-1.2%
Gadsden	88	36,621	37,162	-541	-1.5%
Selma	89	20,276	20,591	-315	-1.5%
Chickasaw	90	6,026	6,128	-102	-1.7%
Birmingham	91	211,705	216,392	-4,687	-2.2%
Fairfield	92	11,039	11,284	-245	-2.2%
Bessemer	93	27,202	27,824	-622	-2.2%
Roanoke	94	6,013	6,154	-141	-2.3%
Anniston	95	22,749	23,297	-548	-2.4%
Attalla	96	5,995	6,143	-148	-2.4%
Eufaula	97	12,897	13,228	-331	-2.5%
Childersburg	98	5,117	5,249	-132	-2.5%
Tarrant	99	6,331	6,524	-193	-3.0%
Jackson	100	5,116	5,279	-163	-3.1%
Demopolis	101	7,323	7,570	-247	-3.3%
Monroeville	102	6,343	6,589	-246	-3.7%
Lanett	103	6,455	6,722	-267	-4.0%
Prichard	104	22,475	23,599	-1,124	-4.8%
Tuskegee	105	9,435	10,189	-754	-7.4%