Spanish Fort, Alabama

Area Profile

10,662 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Spanish Fort, in Baldwin County.

66out of 100
Area Score
Top 24% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 18% of 4,199 cities measured74
SchoolsTop 8% of 4,162 cities measured83
GrowthTop 39% of 4,224 cities measured55
Housing affordabilityTop 31% of 4,218 cities measured73
ClimateTop 10% of 4,225 cities measured84
Physical resilience3,275th of 4,226 cities measured29
Access2,485th of 4,226 cities measured90
Economic stabilityTop 46% of 4,226 cities measured60
The quick read

Spanish Fort ranks in the top 18% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $99,346. The unemployment rate is published for Baldwin County, AL, which contains Spanish Fort, rather than for Spanish Fort alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 70% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 8% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 41 units authorized over the past twelve months, 47% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
10,662
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$99,346
Top 19% nationally
Density
338/sq mi
31.6 sq mi of land
Median age
40.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Alabama
Nearest major airport
MOB
22 mi · Mobile Rgnl
Median home value
$343,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Baldwin County, AL, which contains Spanish Fort, is 3.2%, lower than in 89% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Baldwin County, AL, which contains Spanish Fort, fell 1.9% over the past year, to 116,931 employed residents.

49% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 88% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsBaldwin County, AL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$84,82566th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftBaldwin County, AL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$71,25148th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$18,5752024 ACS 5-Year$99,346Top 19%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,9172024 ACS 5-Year$48,630Top 19%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year5.5%Top 26%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.8 minBottom 44%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year49.1%Top 12%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year83.5%71st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentBaldwin County, AL’s figureJuly 2026116,931Top 41%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Baldwin County, AL’s figureJuly 2026+2.6%Top 15%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Baldwin County, AL’s figureJuly 2026−1.9%Bottom 24%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceBaldwin County, AL’s figureJuly 2026120,73659th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year81.5%Top 38%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageDaphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$50,200Bottom 2%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageDaphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$38,520Bottom 2%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Baldwin County, AL’s figureJuly 2026+0.7%Bottom 9%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateBaldwin County, AL’s figureJuly 20263.2%Top 11%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year11.6%66th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024102k90k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $99,346 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 — Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons4,550$29,600
Waiters and Waitresses3,120$27,080
Cashiers2,680$28,380
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,240$23,000
Stockers and Order Fillers2,150$34,770
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive1,820$39,560

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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 publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Baldwin County, AL, which contains this city.

70% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.6 students for every full-time teacher across 4 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
4
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
70.2%
Top 10% in Alabama
Reading proficiency
67.3%
Top 7% in Alabama
All 4 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Spanish Fort High SchoolBaldwin County1,11516.666%62%
Spanish Fort Elementary SchoolBaldwin County72614.877%73%
Rockwell Elementary SchoolBaldwin County68213.173%70%
Spanish Fort Middle SchoolBaldwin County64918.567%67%

19.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Alabama’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 6% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 94.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area is up 53% over five years, and up 6.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $945 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.27% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,345, close to the $1,390 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,345 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $53,800 a year, about 54% of the median household income here of $99,346.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,390 a month.

A median home at $343,900 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $122,697, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
94.2

Prices here run about 6% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
29.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,345
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,390
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$343,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Spanish Fort’s median household income of $99,346, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area’s figure202394.2Top 22%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.8%97th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+53.0%86th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+113.5%81st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 40%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year65.8%30th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4622024 ACS 5-Year4,71988th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,200Top 37%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,692Top 28%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,345Top 31%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1282024 ACS 5-Year$1,390Bottom 23%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$26,6962024 ACS 5-Year$343,90077th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1092024 ACS 5-Year$94522nd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$18,7842024 ACS 5-Year$122,697Top 14%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.27%1st percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±13%2024 ACS 5-Year29.7%Bottom 42%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±832024 ACS 5-Year6285th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%64th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.0%64th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3082024 ACS 5-Year53690th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

55/ 100
Top 39% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 9% since 2020, reaching 11,118 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 11,118 residents in 2024, up 1.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 41 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Baldwin County, which contains Spanish Fort, gained about 2.5% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $84,825, above the $71,251 of households that moved out.

At 3.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
41
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.8
Top 37% nationally
Year over year
−47%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202411k10k
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. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+2.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
69%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$84,825
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$71,251
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Mobile County, AL 1,830 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Escambia County, FL 808 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  3. Jefferson County, AL 370 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  4. Shelby County, AL 230 people · 1.6% of arrivals
  5. Escambia County, AL 222 people · 1.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Mobile County, AL 1,407 people · 15% of departures
  2. Escambia County, FL 589 people · 6.2% of departures
  3. Jefferson County, AL 224 people · 2.4% of departures
  4. Escambia County, AL 195 people · 2.1% of departures
  5. Madison County, AL 170 people · 1.8% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Baldwin County, AL. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202514057
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−59%).

Weather & climate

8 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 39°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 65.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 40, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FAIRHOPE 3 NE, 12.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND7.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year582024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals65.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year402024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
40
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

29 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 67% of it.

HurricaneHigh
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
Cold waveModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, heat wave, wildfire, strong wind, drought, earthquake, hail, winter weather, ice storm, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

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.

Violent crime
62
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
765
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Spanish Fort's police department reported 62 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 765.

Baldwin County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.8 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.0 per 100,000 residents in Baldwin County.

Homicide
3.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
20.9
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Spanish Fort’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Spanish Fort (Baldwin County) rather than Spanish Fort itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Mobile Rgnl at 22 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year93.0%Top 35%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle22 miBottom 39%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%Top 28%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mobile RgnlMOB22 mi8,502 ft
Bob SikesCEW80 mi8,006 ft
Eglin AFB/Destin-Ft Walton BeachVPS81 mi10,012 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
66
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Other cities in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
DaphneBaldwin County29,45369Daphne vs Spanish Fort
FairhopeBaldwin County24,19067Fairhope vs Spanish Fort
FoleyBaldwin County24,02656Foley vs Spanish Fort
Gulf ShoresBaldwin County16,40161

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Spanish Fort side by side with a similar place.

Spanish Fort vs KingslandSpanish Fort vs Flowood

Moving to Spanish Fort from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Spanish Fort

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Spanish Fort with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
3652721,765$120,189$389,00068