AreaProfile

Montgomery, Alabama

Area Profile

197,494 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Montgomery, in Montgomery County.

63
Area Score
Top 45% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity102nd of 139 published cities45
Growth77th of 134 published cities50
Housing affordabilityTop 11% of 150 published cities89
ClimateTop 50% of 149 published cities71
Physical resilienceTop 47% of 150 published cities58
Access58th of 149 published cities97
Economic stability143rd of 150 published cities33
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 4.3% and the Opportunity signal places Montgomery in the bottom 27%.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 23% of median household income.

A major airport is 8 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
197,494
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$56,811
Bottom 34% nationally
Density
1,235/sq mi
159.9 sq mi of land
Median age
36.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Montgomery County
Alabama
Metro area
Montgomery, AL
Nearest major airport
MGM
8 mi · Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)
Median home value
$161,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3% is lower than 61% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.2% over the past year, to 84,589 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,312$56,811Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,171$33,458Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate21.5%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.1 minBottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher33.8%Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment84,589Bottom 4%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.5%Bottom 42%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.2%Bottom 14%June 2026
Labor force88,385Bottom 4%June 2026
Labor force participation59.2%Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$55,740Bottom 4%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$44,950Bottom 5%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.9%Top 6%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.3%Bottom 39%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/066.22.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202457k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $56,811 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 — Montgomery, AL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators7,410$45,380
Retail Salespersons4,720$29,650
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive4,060$40,260
Registered Nurses3,990$79,570
Stockers and Order Fillers3,780$34,370
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand3,510$37,370

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 $1,089 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.8 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,089
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$161,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.85Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate54.4%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±44594,580Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$21$1,089Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,215$161,900Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.0%Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate14.1%Top 36%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
50/ 100
Ranks 77 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, 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 195,818 in 2024.

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

At 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
523
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Bottom 33% nationally
Year over year
+101%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
48.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024200k196k
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
20202022202320242025503251
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+69%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 37°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 51.2 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MONTGOMERY AP, 8.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation51.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low37°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing35°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

58 / 100
Physical resilience

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

TornadoModerate
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
LandslideModerate

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

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
Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)MGM8 mi9,020 ft
Dothan RgnlDHN86 mi8,500 ft
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth IntlBHM89 mi12,007 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 Montgomery

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
3611753,172$74,72065
3611645,250$55,16062
3610923,581$59,19362
3610814,766$33,29156
3610614,065$69,08765