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Where am ILOCATED

Birmingham, AL Metro Area

The Birmingham, AL metro area is made up of 7 counties in Alabama; the largest are Jefferson County, Shelby County, and St. Clair County. About 1,197,766 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 1.5% more than in April 2020.

Bibb County, outlyingBlount County, outlyingChilton County, outlyingJefferson County, centralSt. Clair County, centralShelby County, centralWalker County, outlyingBirmingham
Central Outlying 7 counties in Alabama
Population, July 2025
1,197,766 1.5% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
7: 3 central, 4 outlying
Land area
5,280 sq mi (13,675 km²)
Time zone
Central TimeUTC-06:00 in January; UTC-05:00 in July
State
Alabama
Combined statistical area
Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega, AL
CBSA code
13820
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Birmingham, AL metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Jefferson CountyCentral665,74255.6%
Shelby CountyCentral238,55219.9%
St. Clair CountyCentral98,2068.2%
Walker CountyOutlying65,1405.4%
Blount CountyOutlying60,1565.0%
Chilton CountyOutlying47,7084.0%
Bibb CountyOutlying22,2621.9%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central counties, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Birmingham198,173 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega, AL combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 2 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Cullman, AL Micro Area94,009 people
  2. Talladega-Sylacauga, AL Micro Area91,764 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Talladega-Sylacauga, AL Micro Area41 mi east
  2. Cullman, AL Micro Area45 mi north
  3. Tuscaloosa, AL Metro Area47 mi southwest
  4. Anniston-Oxford, AL Metro Area54 mi east
  5. Gadsden, AL Metro Area56 mi northeast
  6. Albertville, AL Micro Area61 mi northeast
  7. Selma, AL Micro Area78 mi south
  8. Montgomery, AL Metro Area87 mi south

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗