The last 5 years have been huge for the Magic City and most counties in the Birmingham Metro area, but one county stands out among the rest; Jefferson, home to Vulcan.
Analysis drawn by SmartAsset, shows 4 measures of growth within the top 10 counties in Alabama (also made for the other 49 states if you’re interested) – Here are the Top 4 counties for each measure:
Business Growth
“We looked at the change in the number of businesses established in each location over a 3-year period. This shows whether or not people are starting new business ventures in the county.”
– SmartAsset
- Lee, AL – 9.9%
- Baldwin, AL – 7.5%
- Shelby, AL – 1.9%
- Madison, AL – 1.9%
- Jefferson, AL – (7th Place) -0.4%
GDP Growth ($ in Millions)
“The second factor we looked at was the GDP growth. We used real growth (inflation adjusted) in the local economy.”
– SmartAsset
- Jefferson, AL – $1,123
- Mobile, AL – $588
- Madison, AL – $565
- Montgomery, AL – $386
New Building Permits (per 1,000 homes)
- Baldwin, AL – 20.9
- Madison, AL – 16.6
- Lee, AL – 13.0
- Shelby, AL – 12.6
- Jefferson, AL – (6th Place) 8.2
Municipal Bonds (per capita)
- Montgomery, AL – $20,450
- Tuscaloosa, AL – $12,461
- Balwin, AL – $9,051
- Lee, AL – $4,891
- Jefferson, AL – (8th Place) $1,735
The final and most impressive measure was drawn by compiling all the above four and determining the overall GDP Growth Index. This tells us which counties are coming out on top and growing the fastest.
- Jefferson, AL – 3.49
- Mobile, AL – 2.31
- Madison, AL – 2.25
- Montgomery, AL – 1.86
- Balwin, AL – 1.76
