Editors note: For comments and information, Annette Watters, 205/-348-6191

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – To outsiders, Alabama’s large cities and counties might seem relatively homogeneous—part of a Deep South state with a warm climate and a lot of people who speak with a distinctive drawl. But newly released data from the Census Bureau reveal there are significant differences among Alabama’s most urban settings, according to Annette Watters, manager of the State Data Center at The University of Alabama.

For example, the median age for all Alabama is 37.4 years, but in Baldwin County the median is 40.2 years.

“Baldwin County has been attractive to retirees for many years, so it is not surprising that 15.8 percent of its population is 65 years old or older,” Watters said. “But Etowah County, home of the Gadsden metro area, also has a significant senior population.

“The median age in Etowah County is 39.9 years, and 15.4 percent of Etowah County’s population is 65 years old or older. Lauderdale County is another metro anchor county with a significant percentage, 15.3 percent, of its population in their senior years. Even though Florence is the home of the University of North Alabama and one might expect a larger number than usual of college-aged people, the median age in Lauderdale County is 39.9 years.”

One might also think that Alabama’s urban counties containing a university would be the counties with the highest average educational attainments, but it doesn’t always work that way, Watters said.

In Tuscaloosa County, home of The University of Alabama and Stillman College, just 25.6 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher. That’s a little higher than the statewide average of 21.4 percent, but neither Tuscaloosa County nor Lee County, home of Auburn University, has the highest average education in the state, Watters said.

Two other counties top the counties with the largest university populations for average educational attainment.

“Obviously, students leave their campus counties after graduation and then live where they find a good job,” Watters said.

In Madison County, 40.5 percent of the adults have at least a bachelor’s degree. Shelby County very slightly edges out Madison County as Alabama’s county with the highest educational attainment rate. In Shelby County 40.9 percent of adults have at least a bachelor’s degree. In Shelby County 90.5 percent of adults have finished high school, compared to 87.7 percent in Madison County. The state average for high school completion is 80.3 percent.

The percentage of people who failed to get any educational credentials varies considerably among the large counties in Alabama. Thirty-four percent of the adults in DeKalb County have less than a high school diploma. In Alabama’s best-educated county, Shelby, the percentage with less than a high school education is just 9.5 percent.

Watters also noted that Alabamians tend to stay in state. “Of the state’s 21 largest counties, in both St. Clair and Walker more than 80 percent of the population was born in Alabama. Lee, Madison and Baldwin are the counties that have accepted the most out-of-staters. Only slightly more than half the people in those counties were born in Alabama.”

Persons born abroad are much rarer in Alabama than they are in many other states, Watters said. Less than 3 percent of Alabama’s total population is foreign born. Some of those people are now naturalized U.S. citizens and some are not. Madison, Marshall, and Tuscaloosa have more than 4 percent foreign born population, for different reasons.

The number of foreign born in Tuscaloosa is affected by the presence of international students and faculty. Marshall County’s foreign born residents are primarily workers and their families. These numbers do not take into account people who are in the state without legal status. The Census Bureau knows how to estimate the people only for whom it has documentation.

The data contained in the recently released profiles are based on the American Community Survey (ACS). Interviews were conducted in 2005. The ACS, like any other statistical activity, is subject to error, Watters said.

“The Census Bureau is careful to show data users that the estimate could possibly be larger or smaller, and the Bureau’s data tables give upper and lower bounds for each variable.

“Because these numbers are estimates, they need to be regarded that way. They give useful insights to Alabama’s demographic characteristics at mid-decade, but reality on the ground could be a little different,” she said.

The State Data Center is part of the UA Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration’s Center for Business and Economic Research. The Center was created in 1930, and since that time has engaged in research programs to promote economic development in the state while continuously expanding and refining its base of socioeconomic information.

http://cber.cba.ua.edu