AreaProfile

Florence, Alabama

Area Profile

41,701 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Florence, in Lauderdale County.

63
Area Score
Top 50% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1208th of 1,567 published cities44
GrowthTop 13% of 1,503 published cities72
Housing affordabilityTop 26% of 1,876 published cities89
ClimateTop 26% of 1,876 published cities77
Physical resilience970th of 1,849 published cities55
Access1757th of 1,876 published cities64
Economic stability1658th of 1,876 published cities38
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places Florence in the bottom 23%.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 261 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 40% on the prior year.

Its Area Score of 63 places Florence in the top 50% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
41,701
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,174
Bottom 26% nationally
Density
1,540/sq mi
27.1 sq mi of land
Median age
35.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lauderdale County
Alabama
Metro area
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL
Nearest major airport
HSV
52 mi · Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones Fld
Median home value
$196,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% is lower than 39% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.4% over the past year, to 17,640 employed residents.

35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,040$52,174Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,790$31,735Bottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate17.9%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.5 minBottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher34.5%Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment17,640Bottom 29%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.1%Top 48%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.4%Bottom 39%June 2026
Labor force18,504Bottom 29%June 2026
Labor force participation59.5%Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$50,400Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$39,740Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.2%Top 3%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.7%Top 39%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/064.72.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202452k41k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $52,174 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 — Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons2,080$28,980
Cashiers1,580$27,310
Registered Nurses1,320$66,360
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,310$22,590
Stockers and Order Fillers1,190$30,570
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive1,160$38,850

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $820 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.8 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$820
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$196,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.76Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate52.1%Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±47420,139Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$29$820Bottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,419$196,300Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.9%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.9%Top 43%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
72/ 100
Top 13% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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.

Population has grown 5% since 2020, reaching 42,716 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 9% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 6.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
261
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.3
Top 25% nationally
Year over year
+40%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
9.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202443k41k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202220232024202528763
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+356%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 31°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 57.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MUSCLE SHOALS 2 N, 4.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation57.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing38°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

55 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Strong windModerate
EarthquakeModerate
TornadoModerate
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, lightning, ice storm, hurricane, drought, winter weather, landslide, hail, wildfire.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 52 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones FldHSV52 mi10,001 ft
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth IntlBHM102 mi12,007 ft
SmyrnaMQY104 mi8,038 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.

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Area Score
63
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Compare

Put Florence side by side with a similar place.

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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.

ZIP codes in Florence

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
3563034,028$46,30461