The 2010 census estimated Alabama's population at 4,802,740, an increase of 332,636 or 7.5% since 2000. This includes a natural increase of 87,818 (375,808 births minus 287,990 deaths) and a net migration of 73,178 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 30,537 and migration within the country produced a net increase of 42,641.
As of 2000, 96.7% of Alabama residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 2.2% speak Spanish. German speakers make up only 0.4% of the population, French/French Creole at 0.3%, and Chinese at 0.1%.
In 2006 Alabama had a larger percentage of tobacco smokers than the national average, with 23% of adults smoking.[1]
The religious affiliations of adult people in Alabama are as follows: Christian – 86%, Non-Christian Faiths – 1%, Other faiths – 1%, Unaffiliated (religious "nones") – 12%
As of 2000, 25.3% of residents of the state were under 18, 6.7% were under 5, and 13.0% were over 65.
51.7% of Alabamians are female and 48.3% are male; there is a surplus of 600,000 women in the age range of 25–44.
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2017)
The 2010 census estimated Alabama's population at 4,802,740, an increase of 332,636 or 7.5% since 2000. This includes a natural increase of 87,818 (375,808 births minus 287,990 deaths) and a net migration of 73,178 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 30,537 and migration within the country produced a net increase of 42,641.
In 2006 Alabama had a larger percentage of tobacco smokers than the national average, with 23% of adults smoking.[1]
The racial makeup of the state and comparison to the prior census:
Since 2016, data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one Hispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Historically, African Americans were brought to Alabama as slaves, in greatest numbers in the cotton-producing plantation region known as the Black Belt. This region remains predominantly African American, where many freedmen settled to work at agriculture after the Civil War. The northern part of the state, originally settled by small farmers with fewer slaves, is predominantly European American. The Port of Mobile, founded by the French and subsequently controlled by England, Spain, and the United States, has long had an ethnically diverse population. It has long served as an entry point for various groups settling in other parts of the state. Those citing "American" ancestry in Alabama are of overwhelmingly English extraction, however most English Americans identify simply as having American ancestry because their roots have been in North America for so long, in many cases since the early sixteen hundreds. Demographers estimate that a minimum of 20–23% of people in Alabama are of predominantly English ancestry and state that the figure is probably much higher. In the 1980 census 1,139,976 people in Alabama cited that they were of English ancestry out of a total state population of 2,824,719 making them 41% of the state at the time and the largest ethnic group.[16][17][18][19][20] There are also many more people in Alabama of Scots-Irish origins than are self-reported.[21] Many people in Alabama claim Irish ancestry because of the term "Scots-Irish", but most of the time in Alabama this term is used for those with Scottish roots, rather than Irish.[22] Alabama is home to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek Native American tribes.[23] Alabama has a growing Hispanic population.[24]Mexicans are the largest Latino ethnic group in Alabama. Alabama is also home to Guatemalans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Brazilians, Salvadorians, and Panamanians.[25]
^Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?', Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.
^Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, 'The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns', Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44–46.
^Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, 'Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites', Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82–86.
^The relevant note on p. 10 erroneously switches the population values for Perry and Washington counties. The correct values can be found on page 121 of the final census report for 1820.
