Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Population

Growing. Up 7.9% since 2020.

17,666

people, the 38th-largest of Alabama's cities and towns.

Census Population Estimates, 2025. Rank among Alabama's cities and towns computed by the Almanac. Sources: Census Population Estimates

The workday

9 in 10 jobs here go to people who live somewhere else.

86.5%

of 12,269 jobs located in Muscle Shoals are filled by in-commuters.

Census LEHD LODES, 2023. Sources: Census LEHD LODES

Rent

Median rent is up 78% since the 2005–2009 survey, before inflation.

$1,029

a month. Alabama's median is $1,007.

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024 (latest), with earlier 5-year windows. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

The seam

Cross one tract line and median rent jumps $519.

A $519 gap between neighbors, the sharpest rent edge between adjacent tracts in Colbert County.

• $593 Tract 208.01
• $1,112 Tract 207.05

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024, adjacent tracts compared by the Almanac. Tract estimates carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

Room to build

Local wages can carry more rent than the median charged today.

$1,084–$1,625

is the monthly rent range local workforce wages support.

• $1,029 median

Supportable rent computed by the Almanac from 2023 source wage data. Median rent: Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Computed by the Almanac, Census ACS 5-year

Building

61% of the housing here was built before 2000.

• 1,088 homes permitted in ten years, 2016–2025
• 0% of those were in multifamily buildings
• 61% of all homes were built before 2000

Census Building Permits Survey, 2016–2025; Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Census Building Permits Survey, Census ACS 5-year

Units needed

Closing the gap would add 0.3–1.7% to the 7,273 homes here.

24–123

is the estimated number of missing housing units, from the lowest to the highest of three estimates.

Range computed by the Almanac from 2023 jobs and household data, using three demand models: 1% of jobs located here, 1% of renter households, and a rate by town size applied to renters. The low end is the lowest of the three and the high end the highest. It is an estimate, not a count. Sources: Computed by the Almanac

Home value

A median home costs 5% less than Alabama's.

$199,700

median home value in Muscle Shoals.

• $199,700 Muscle Shoals
• $209,900 Alabama
• $332,700 U.S.

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Census ACS 5-year