Which parts of Huntsville are growing the fastest?

Huntsville – now Alabama’s most populous city – has been growing fast over the last decade. But where is that growth?

An analysis of 2020 Census block data showing population growth by City Council district in the Rocket City shows one district stands above the rest: West Huntsville.

RELATED: See where Birmingham grew, shrank in 2020 Census

Overall, Huntsville added nearly 35,000 people between 2010 and 2020, according to official 2020 Census data. It’s now home to more than 215,000 residents.

The city has just five council districts, and in 2010 they were essentially equal in population, as required by law. In 2010, when the last decennial census was performed, each district had between 35,000 and 37,000 people.

That’s now changed, with west Huntsville having added more than 15,000 in a decade. Geographically, it’s a sprawling and rapidly growing district that starts just west of UAH, covers Bridge Street and MidCity, completely encircles Madison, reaches south down Zierdt Road to nearly hit the Tennessee River, and carries west until it touches I-65 across the interstate from Decatur.

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While each of the city’s five districts grew over the last decade, none added more people than District 5. It’s now home to more than 52,000 people, making it the most populous district in the city. It grew faster even than the City of Madison that it encircles.

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Madison, in its own right, was one of the fastest growing cities in the state over the last decade. It grew by 33% during that time, adding roughly 14,000 people and reaching a total population of nearly 57,000. But Huntsville’s District 5 grew faster and added more total people, growing by 44%.

“There is just so much growth in the city of Huntsville, and a lot of it is right here in the 5th,” said Huntsville City Councilmember John Meredith, who represents District 5. He cited a slew of economic development in the area over the past decade, including GE, Polaris, Mazda-Toyota, Blue Origin and more.

He said those projects bring more than just jobs to the area - they bring investments in the form of residential developments, grocery stores, restaurants and more.

“While all of Huntsville is growing, the 5th has a lot of opportunities, such as available land, for one thing,” Meredith said. “Frankly it’s kind of a perfect landing spot... It’s the logical place to put things.”

The growth in District 5 was also relatively diverse – less than half of the growth was among white people, and nearly 30% was among Black people. And a large portion of its growth came from people who identify as at least two races – a common growth area nationally due to a change in how race questions were coded in the 2020 Census.

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“It just shows how accommodating the city in general, but again the 5th district is,” Meredith said. He said District 5 already has a diverse population, and that the district has housing options that suit multiple lifestyles.

“We do, I think, a pretty good job of promoting the, for lack of a better word, racial harmony that Huntsville has,” he said.

Meredith was happy to see the growth in his district, but that growth is bittersweet, since it means he’ll lose constituents when City Council lines are redrawn.

“I’m gonna hate to lose almost 10,000 people that I currently represent,” he said. “I represent them all now, and I just hate losing them.”

Meanwhile, growth also continues at a rapid pace in east Huntsville across Monte Sano Mountain. East Huntsville’s District 2 was the second-fastest growing district between 2010 and 2020. It added nearly 10,000 people, for a growth rate of 27%.

District 3, in south Huntsville, added around 4,000 people. South Huntsville also saw large gains in its Black population, which nearly doubled between 2010 and 2020.

District 4 is the smallest geographically, picking up parts of center city and old mill neighborhoods as it stretches from the Space & Rocket Center to the foot of Monte Sano. It added less than 3,000 people, and was the only district in Huntsville to actually lose white population. It lost over 1,000 white residents between 2010 and 2020.

District 1, covering north Huntsville and parts of the downtown, saw the least growth. But District 1 also expanded, adding 2,000 people. It was also the only district that saw a decline in the Black population.

Data for census blocks, which was used in this analysis, isn’t exact. New privacy measures employed by the Census Bureau this year can skew the numbers slightly, but overall trends remain accurate.

Other Huntsville-area cities

Taken as a whole, Madison’s 33% growth outpaced other neighboring cities over the decade. No other nearby city with at least 10,000 residents topped 30% growth over that time.

Huntsville was the closest at 19%, which is significant growth for a city of that size. Athens, in fast-growing Limestone County, saw 16% growth over the decade.

Hartselle, south of Decatur in Morgan County, grew by 8%, and Decatur itself grew by 4% - a relatively slow pace, but faster than the Census had predicted prior to the data release.

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Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Email Ramsey Archibald at rarchibald@al.com, and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald. Read more Alabama data stories here.