Gadsden, AL Metro Area

The Gadsden, AL metro area is one county in Alabama: Etowah County. About 103,886 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 0.4% more than in April 2020.

Etowah County, centralGadsden
Etowah County in Alabama
Population, July 2025
103,886 0.4% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
County
Etowah County
Land area
535 sq mi (1,386 km²)
Time zone
Central TimeUTC-06:00 in January; UTC-05:00 in July
State
Alabama
CBSA code
23460

The county in the Gadsden, AL metro area

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025
Etowah CountyCentral103,886

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. This area has no outlying counties: no neighboring county sends enough commuters to join it. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Gadsden33,374 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.

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. Albertville, AL Micro Area21 mi northwest
  2. Anniston-Oxford, AL Metro Area30 mi south
  3. Fort Payne, AL Micro Area36 mi northeast
  4. Birmingham, AL Metro Area56 mi southwest

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 ↗