Mobile, AL

Metro Area Profile

412,590 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Mobile, AL metropolitan area.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 10% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity341st of 379 published metros32
Growth579th of 821 published metros37
Housing affordability536th of 822 published metros89
ClimateTop 9% of 822 published metros78
Physical resilience698th of 822 published metros26
AccessTop 12% of 822 published metros97
Economic stability599th of 822 published metros36
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 4.5% and the Opportunity signal places Mobile in the bottom 10%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,180 units authorized over the past twelve months, 15% 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
412,590
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,880
Bottom 24% nationally
Density
336/sq mi
1229.4 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Mobile, AL
Nearest major airport
MOB
3 mi · Mobile Rgnl
Median home value
$190,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% is lower than 37% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 1.9% over the past year, to 176,455 employed residents.

Median household income of $58,880 is below 76% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,273$58,880Bottom 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$668$33,306Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.2%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.6 minTop 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.0%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment176,455Top 37%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.0%Bottom 32%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.9%Bottom 20%June 2026
Labor force184,827Top 37%June 2026
Labor force participation58.5%Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,170Bottom 33%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,000Bottom 41%2025 OEWS
Metro employment172,550Top 34%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 11%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.5%Top 37%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.72.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
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 $1,052 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
21.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,052
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$190,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.24Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate66.0%Bottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±135186,082Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$22$1,052Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,688$190,700Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.4%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate13.1%Top 39%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
37/ 100
Ranks 579 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 412,339 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 4% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
1,180
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.9
Top 47% nationally
Year over year
−15%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
4.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024414k411k
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.

Weather & climate

7 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 41°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 67.1 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MOBILE, 2.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND7.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation67.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low41°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 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. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. 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.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences 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. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
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 3 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mobile RgnlMOB3 mi8,502 ft
Stennis IntlHSA78 mi8,498 ft
Bob SikesCEW100 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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Area Score
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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 30, 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.