Alabama

A Demographic and Electoral Profile

Republican nominees have won the state by over 20 points since 2004, including Donald Trump's nearly 26% margin in 2020. Alabama has had nine electoral votes since 1972 and will keep that number until 2028. Of the seven congressional districts, only one is Democrat.

Alabama comprises approximately 1.51% of the US population and ranks as the 24th-most-populated state. Its population increased 6.65% from 2010 to 2023.

Alabama's largest city is Huntsville, with a 2023 population of 225,476 people. Montgomery, the state capital, is home to an estimated 199,055 people. Compared to many other states, Alabama's population is distributed relatively evenly, with the top ten most populous cities spread across eight counties and five distinct regions. Alabama's nickname is the "Yellowhammer State," after a woodpecker with yellow plumage whose name became a slang term for Alabama's Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.

Alabama joined the Union in December 1819 and participated in all elections from 1820 onwards except 1864 (due to its secession). Alabama was a Democratic stronghold from Reconstruction through the 1950s.  In 1960, six of the 11 Democratic winning electors were unpledged, and all voted for Harry F. Byrd.

Alabama is divided into 67 counties and contains 461 municipalities, consisting of 174 cities and 287 towns. It has a total population of 5,108,468. The state had 108,000 foreign-born (2.4% of the state population), of which 22.2% were undocumented (24,000). In 2018, the top countries of origin for immigrants were Mexico, China, India, Germany, and Guatemala.

20–23% of people in Alabama are of predominantly English. Alabama has the 5th highest African American population in the US. The largest reported ancestry groups in Alabama are American.

Religious Affiliation % of population

Christian 86% (Protestant 78%, Evangelical Protestant 49%. Mainline Protestant 13, Black Church 16%, Catholic 7%, Mormon 1%, Jehovah's Witnesses 0.1%, Eastern Orthodox 0.1%, Other Christian 0.1%, Unaffiliated 12%, Nothing, in particular, 9%, Agnostic 1%, Atheist 1% , Non-Christian faiths 1%, Jewish 0.2 %, Muslim 0.2%, Buddhist 0.2%, Hindu 0.2%, Other Non-Christian faiths 0.2%, Don't know/refused answer 1%  

Alabama is in the middle of the Bible Belt, a region of numerous Protestant Christians. Alabama is one of the most religious states in the United States, with about 58% of the population attending church regularly. Most people in the state identify as Evangelical Protestants.

In Alabama, the Southern Baptist Convention has the highest number of adherents,

Jews have been present in what is now Alabama since 1763, during the colonial era of Mobile, when Sephardi Jews emigrated from London. The oldest Jewish congregation in the state is Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim in Mobile. Later immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries tended to be Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe. Jewish denominations in the state include two Orthodox, four Conservative, ten Reform, and one Humanistic synagogue.

Muslims have been increasing in Alabama, with 31 mosques built by 2011, many by African American converts. In 2024, there are 25,000 Muslims in the state.

Alabama has Muslim communities in several cities, including Huntsville and Madison, and mosques in most major cities and some smaller ones. The Huntsville Muslim community is ethnically diverse, with members from South Asia, Arab countries, Africa, and Afghanistan. The Huntsville Islamic Center (HIC) offers a place to pray, a community center, Sunday and summer school, and Quranic and Arabic teachings. HIC also has an Islamic school for preschool through 8th grade and weekend sports leagues for youth. 

Indian immigrants and their descendants have founded several Hindu temples and cultural centers in the state, the best-known being the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Birmingham, the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Birmingham in Pelham, the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama in Capshaw, and the Hindu Mandir and Cultural Center in Tuscaloosa.

There are six Dharma centers and organizations for Theravada Buddhists. Most monastic Buddhist temples are in southern Mobile County, near Bayou La Batre. This area attracted an influx of refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam during the 1970s and after that. The four temples within a ten-mile radius of Bayou La Batre include Chua Chanh Giac, Wat Buddharaksa, and Wat Lao Phoutthavihan.