AreaProfile

Mobile, Alabama

Area Profile

203,416 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Mobile, in Mobile County.

51
Area Score
Bottom 11% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity123rd of 139 published cities39
Growth112th of 134 published cities29
Housing affordabilityTop 28% of 150 published cities80
ClimateTop 36% of 149 published cities73
Physical resilience116th of 150 published cities26
Access58th of 149 published cities97
Economic stability139th of 150 published cities36
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places Mobile in the bottom 12%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 295 units authorized over the past twelve months, 46% below the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, inland flooding and coastal flooding.

At a glance

Population
203,416
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$53,558
Bottom 29% nationally
Density
1,349/sq mi
150.8 sq mi of land
Median age
37.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Mobile County
Alabama
Metro area
Mobile, AL
Nearest major airport
MOB
8 mi · Mobile Rgnl
Median home value
$193,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% is lower than 45% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.9% over the past year, to 89,392 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 72% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,982$53,558Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,053$33,935Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.4%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.5 minBottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher32.0%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment89,392Bottom 6%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.4%Bottom 31%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.9%Bottom 21%June 2026
Labor force93,800Bottom 6%June 2026
Labor force participation59.7%Bottom 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,170Bottom 7%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,000Bottom 20%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 12%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.7%Top 45%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/065.92.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202454k45k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $53,558 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 — Mobile, AL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses5,260$79,490
Retail Salespersons4,900$29,710
Stockers and Order Fillers3,840$35,070
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive3,780$42,840
Cashiers3,710$28,240
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers3,510$51,010

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 $1,068 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.6 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
23.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,068
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$193,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.61Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate54.0%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,08698,380Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$23$1,068Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,123$193,300Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.9%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate14.0%Top 37%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
29/ 100
Ranks 112 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, 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 fallen 2% since 2020, reaching 201,367 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 17% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
295
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.6
Bottom 20% nationally
Year over year
−46%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
16.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024206k201k
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
2020202220232024202567484
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+154%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 43°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 60.5 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MOBILE DWTN AP, 3.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND7.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation60.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low43°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing31°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

26 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneHigh
LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, tornado, wildfire, earthquake, hail, winter weather, strong wind, ice storm.

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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 8 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mobile RgnlMOB8 mi8,502 ft
Stennis IntlHSA83 mi8,498 ft
Bob SikesCEW94 mi8,006 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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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 Mobile

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
3669552,690$76,04056
3660838,890$61,14653
3660525,104$43,53847
3660923,820$49,83050
3658223,705$64,76353