New to North Alabama

Map of North Alabama counties and population centers from "A Smart Place"
Map of North Alabama counties and population centers from “A Smart Place”

About this area

North Alabama is a rapidly growing region that includes the cities of Huntsville, Madison, Decatur, Athens, Florence, Scottsboro, and Guntersville, as well as many smaller towns and rural areas.

A Very Brief History

Originally home to the Yuchi, Shawnee, Cherokee, and Chickasaw nations and settled by Europeans in the early 1800’s, North Alabama was a fairly sleepy place until Redstone Arsenal was created in 1941 by the US Government to support the war effort. At the conclusion of WWII, Redstone Arsenal was repurposed for rocket, space, and missile research via Operation Paperclip, leading to an influx of workers and residents. The Military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round of 2005 further boosted Huntsville’s population, as have more recent local economic development activities. The Arsenal and nearby Cummings Research Park house hundreds of businesses and serve as a major employment center for North Alabama.

Major Employers and Points of Interest

North Alabama is known for its educated workforce and high-tech jobs, and includes some of the following employers: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Army Space and Missile Defense, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Toyota Manufacturing, Polaris, Blue Origin, Boeing, Hexagon, SCI, ADTRAN, Dynetics, Raytheon, Facebook, Huntsville Hospital System, local schools and universities, and many federal defense contractors.

Major attractions and things to do in North Alabama include the US Space and Rocket Center, the VBC (including Probst Arena, Mark C Smith Concert Hall, Mars Music Hall, Playhouse, and Convention Center), Orion Amphitheater, Lowe Mill (the largest private arts facility in the South), Trash Pandas Minor League Baseball, Huntsville Havoc Hockey, Huntsville Botanical Garden, Monte Sano and several other State Parks, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Cook Museum of Natural Science, several waterparks, and many lively and quaint downtown areas (Huntsville, Athens, Decatur, Florence, Guntersville, etc).

General and Jewish Population

The Metropolitan Huntsville region is among the top 125 largest metro areas in the United States, and is the 2nd largest in Alabama, after Birmingham. Approximately 500,000 people live in the Huntsville MSA which includes Madison and Limestone Counties. When Decatur, Albertville and their surrounding counties are included, the total population of the Combined Statistical Area is almost 650,000.

The Shoals MSA, which includes Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield in Lauderdale and Colbert Counties, has almost 200,000 residents.

According to the American Jewish Population Project at Brandeis University, it is estimated that there are between 1,700 to 5,600 Jewish people in North Alabama (11-County region) as of 2019. This includes approximately 2,000 adults (+/- 1000) who identify as being Jewish, which would give North Alabama the 3rd largest Jewish population in the state, after metro Birmingham and Mobile.

Based on the Brandeis data and general population growth trends, the majority of Jewish individuals in North Alabama live in Madison County within commuting distance of Huntsville. However, the population is dispersed and there are no specific “Jewish neighborhoods”. Please see the Jewish community directory for more information.

Some helpful links for the larger cities in North Alabama are shown below.

Huntsville / Madison

The Basics:

Schools:

Florence / Muscle Shoals

Coming soon…