AreaProfile

35235Birmingham, Alabama

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 35235.

58
Area Score
Bottom 44% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity4982nd of 6,210 published ZIP areas39
Growth3354th of 5,428 published ZIP areas43
Housing affordability3417th of 6,685 published ZIP areas79
ClimateTop 34% of 6,789 published ZIP areas74
Physical resilienceTop 49% of 6,709 published ZIP areas59
AccessTop 32% of 6,791 published ZIP areas97
Economic stability5671st of 6,742 published ZIP areas37
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 4.6% and the Opportunity signal places 35235 in the bottom 20%.

A major airport is 7 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

Its Area Score of 58 places 35235 in the top 56% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
20,526
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,295
Bottom 36% nationally
Density
1,521/sq mi
13.5 sq mi of land
Median age
39.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Birmingham
Alabama
Metro area
Birmingham, AL
Nearest major airport
BHM
7 mi · Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Intl
Median home value
$194,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% is lower than 43% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.7% over the past year, to 89,172 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$6,988$63,295Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,906$32,084Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate20.8%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.0 minBottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher29.1%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment89,172Top 37%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.3%Bottom 28%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.7%Bottom 28%June 2026
Labor force93,472Top 37%June 2026
Labor force participation60.7%Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$60,770Bottom 21%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,770Bottom 26%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 15%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.6%Top 43%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202463k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,295 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Birmingham, AL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses17,850$78,680
Retail Salespersons15,280$31,450
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive10,900$44,580
Stockers and Order Fillers10,890$35,660
Cashiers10,690$29,310
Fast Food and Counter Workers10,080$27,020

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Birmingham, AL, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,404 takes 27% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
26.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,404
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$194,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.07Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate65.5%Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6699,308Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$63$1,404Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,798$194,500Bottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income26.6%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.9%Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
43/ 100
Ranks 3354 of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

80% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 3.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
591
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.0
Top 48% nationally
Year over year
+33%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
79.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Birmingham, AL, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 56.6 inches, including 1.4 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BIRMINGHAM AP, 6.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation56.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing37°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

59 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake.

TornadoHigh
LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, strong wind, ice storm, winter weather, wildfire, hurricane, hail, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 7 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth IntlBHM7 mi12,007 ft
Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones FldHSV71 mi10,001 ft
Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)MGM92 mi9,020 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
58
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

35235 vs Birmingham

How this ZIP area compares with Birmingham as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

35235
Birmingham
Median household income
$63,295
vs
$46,051
Per capita income
$32,084
vs
$32,216
Population density
1,521/sq mi
vs
1,347/sq mi
Median home value
$194,500
vs
$158,800
Median gross rent
$1,404
vs
$1,107
Homeownership rate
65.5%
vs
45.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
29.1%
vs
31.1%
Poverty rate
20.8%
vs
24.7%
Median age
39.6
vs
35.6

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.