Halfway through 2025, Birmingham’s homicide total is half what it was midyear 2024, a dramatic turnaround after a year of record-setting violence.   

According to data from the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, total homicides in Jefferson County have been trending down from a peak in 2021, despite the record number of homicides in the City of Birmingham in 2024. Countywide, there were 196 murders in 2024. In 2021, there were 216.

Excluding Birmingham, homicides in the rest of the county dropped from 87 in 2021 to 47 in 2024, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Figure 1 shows total homicides by year. The bar is shaded by the means of death. The red-shaded portion of the bar represents homicides involving guns. Most homicides in Jefferson County involve guns.

Figure 1. Jefferson County Homicide Trends, by Means of Death

In the first half of 2025, Birmingham saw a precipitous drop in the number of murders, with 37 murders in the first six months of the year, compared to 76 by midyear 2024, according to data provided by the Birmingham Police Department.

While murders, robberies, and auto theft were all down compared to the first six months of 2024, aggravated assaults, theft, and burglary were up.

Taking the statistics together, Birmingham police have recorded more total criminal incidents in 2025 than for the same period in 2024.

Figure 2. Birmingham Part I Crime Trends

Beyond Birmingham, in the portions of Jefferson County patrolled by the Sheriff’s Office, homicides in the first half of 2025 were even with the total for the first half of 2024.

Aggravated assaults were up, but other Part 1 crimes were down.

Figure 3. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Area

PARCA’s data analysis stems from the Birmingham-Jefferson County Justice Governance Partnership, a collaboration between Birmingham, Jefferson County, the Jefferson County Health Department, the Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney, and a wide array of other public agencies, nonprofits, and community groups. The BJC-JGP brings stakeholders together around a common pool of community and public safety data. The aim is to increase public safety through effective response and by improving underlying conditions that leave communities more vulnerable to crime.

Context

Homicides began rising in Jefferson County in 2015, which paralleled a national rise in homicides. Then in 2020, the number of murders in Jefferson County and around the country leapt sharply.

Each year from 2020 through the end of 2024, the total number of murders in Jefferson County has been twice that of the total recorded in 2014. Across the country, homicides began dropping in 2022, though in some cities, including Birmingham, the homicides continued to climb. By the end of 2024, homicides nationally were below pre-pandemic levels. Homicides were below the 2019 level in the rest of Jefferson County, excluding Birmingham, in 2024. However, Birmingham’s record total, which included multiple mass shootings in which four or more victims died, kept the county’s overall rate elevated.

The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) has been tracking trends in 40 cities across the U.S. and, in a 2024 year-end report published in January, found that homicides had decreased 6% from a 2019 baseline.

Figure 3. 40 U.S. City Homicide Trend

Theories on the National Rise and Fall of Violence

There have been various theories advanced about why murders began increasing in 2015 and continued to rise until recently. The CCJ’s Crime Trends Working Group cited various theories on what led to the rise in homicides. What follows is a summary of the points mentioned. The full text is available at the link above.

• Undermined Police Legitimacy: Beginning with the police-killing of Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, MO, and increasing with the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, decreased respect for law enforcement led to a surge in murders.
• De-Policing: In the light of the pandemic and protests, law enforcement and the criminal justice system generally decreased interaction and criminal case processing.
• Routine Activity Theory: This theory argues that crime stems from the combination of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of capable guardians. Covid-19 disrupted normal structures of support and engagement, and, at the same time, decreased protective services, leading to a rise in crime.
• Gun Sales: A spike in gun sales during the pandemic may have had an effect. However, other research suggests the consumers driving the spike in gun sales were largely already gun owners, and thus, the increased number of guns didn’t increase the number of people with guns. In Birmingham, the availability of devices that allow guns to function as if they were automatic weapons may have increased the lethality of shooting incidents.
• Bail Reform and Progressive Prosecution: Some observers blamed criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing long jail stays for people unable to post bail and a perceived pull-back in prosecutions. Covid also led to delays in prosecutions and criminal case backlogs. Other working group members disputed the theory, citing research studies that have found no impact of bail reform on rearrest or overall crime rate. In many jurisdictions, reforms were in place when crime was still falling. Also, after the pandemic spike, violence began falling, even in jurisdictions that maintained the reforms.
• Drug Market Disruption: The pandemic led to changes in where people obtained drugs and the kind of drugs available, including the rise of fentanyl. These disruptions coincided with the 2020-2021 spike in violence, suggesting a connection.
• Crime Reduction Interventions: A suite of approaches to violence reduction has become widely recognized as working together to reduce violence. Some of those programs were disrupted by the pandemic. In response to the violence spike, cities revived or launched new intervention programs, including both law enforcement strategies and community-based interventions, yielding decreases in violence.

Understanding Patterns and Targeting Interventions

Research shows that violence tends to be concentrated geographically and disproportionately between and within social networks. Using Jefferson County Coroner’s data from 2012 to the present to map where homicide victims have been found reveals a stark pattern. Homicides disproportionately occur in Jones Valley in areas east and west of the central city, stretching down as far as Bessemer.

Figure 4. Jefferson County Homicides by Zip Code 2012-2025

In 2024, homicides were even more concentrated. Figure 5 tallies homicides by Census tract. Tracts are a more compact geographic area than zip codes. Census tracts also tend to group neighborhoods and populations that are economically and demographically similar. In 2024, four Census tracts experienced seven or eight homicides apiece. Seven additional tracts saw five or six homicides. Homicides occurred in 85 of the 189 Census tracts in the county; 43 tracts experienced two or more homicides.

Figure 5. Jefferson County Homicides by Census Tract, 2024

Homicide is impacting the Black community disproportionately. Blacks make up less than half of Jefferson County’s population, but, in 2024, 88% percent of Jefferson County’s homicide victims were Black.

Interventions That May Be Decreasing Homicides

There is no definitive answer to why homicides have dropped so precipitously and whether the trend will continue. However, the combined effects of multiple approaches to violence reduction may be paying off. These include changes to enforcement strategies and public health-oriented approaches to violence reduction.

Research shows that a small number of individuals are responsible for a disproportionate share of community violence. If the charges filed by prosecutors prove true, the arrest of one individual, Damien Laron McDaniel III, would be a factor in decreasing homicides in Birmingham. Initially arrested in October 2024, McDaniel has subsequently been charged with a total of 14 homicides over a 14-month period, including two 2024 mass shootings, both of which saw four people die.

The Birmingham police department and partner agencies have increased their use of focused deterrence, an approach endorsed by the Birmingham Crime Commission, a panel of community leaders and public health and safety officials convened by Mayor Randall Woodfin. In an interview with the Birmingham Times, Police Chief Michael Pickett described the formation of a Special Enforcement Division focused on high-crime areas and networks of individuals involved in violent crimes. The Division, working with federal and local partners, studies data, looks for patterns in time, geography, and among individuals, and works to interrupt those patterns.

The police department has succeeded in increasing homicide clearance rates, the rate at which a murder is followed by an arrest. By mid-year, arrests had been made in 30 of the 37 homicides from 2025.

Pickett said that community and business owners are increasingly cooperating with police by providing information. That increases the department’s ability to make arrests and allows the district attorney’s office to charge and successfully prosecute. The higher clearance rate increases community trust and encourages more communication and confidence that the information provided will be acted upon.

Beyond Enforcement

Cities across the country have increasingly recognized that improving public safety demands sustained investment in programs that interrupt patterns of violence and address the underlying community conditions. Birmingham, in conjunction with partner agencies, has launched a variety of these initiatives in the past two years.

One with a direct connection to violence is a hospital-linked violence intervention program supported by the Jefferson County Health Department and the City of Birmingham, Violence Intervention and Prevention Partners (VIP2). In recent years, public health officials have noted that violence often behaves like a contagious disease. That insight has led to the deployment of public health strategies designed to reduce violence.

A first step is to identify a population that is particularly susceptible to violent injury and intervene with education and support. Researchers have found that people admitted to the hospital with a gunshot wound are at risk of being shot again, returning to the hospital, or dying. Studies find that between 25%-40% of gunshot victims are, within a relatively short time frame, return to the hospital with another gunshot or are killed in a subsequent violent incident.

Each incident costs society. According to a study by Everytown Research & Policy, a gun safety advocacy group, on average, each nonfatal firearm injury costs taxpayers $25,250. Each firearm death costs taxpayers $273,904 in emergency response, health care, law enforcement, and criminal justice proceedings. In addition to the cost to taxpayers nd direct victims, each gunshot victim is connected to additional community members, from children and spouses, who also suffer costs.

VIP2 attempts to interrupt that cycle. Launched in October 2023, VIP2 provides support for patients admitted to UAB Hospital with gunshot wounds. Social workers with UAB’s Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery screen patients and refer willing participants to the Offender Alumni Association, which dispatches trained violence intervention specialists to the hospital.

The specialists, all of whom have had personal experience with gun violence, meet with the gunshot victim. The participants are admitted only if they commit to not retaliating against the person or group who shot them. If they do commit to participating, OAA provides an array of support, directly or through partners. Victims often face difficult physical recoveries. They are often financially devastated, facing medical bills and job loss. To avoid further violence, they may need help relocating.

OAA provides access to group therapy and mental health counseling. It also connects victims with education, job training, and job placement, and case-manages individuals in their recovery.

Since the fall of 2023, 175 individuals have participated in VIP2, with 105 currently receiving support. Only four participants have been reinjured. The Health Department and the City are cooperating to provide $1.1 million a year to support VIP2.

In addition, the City’s Office of Public Safety Initiatives is managing investments of federal and local money in violence reduction programs targeting youth, working with Birmingham City Schools, The Housing Authority, and Jefferson County Family Court and Detention Center.

The city, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, and Regions Foundation are also supporting re-entry services for individuals returning to the community after serving prison terms. The goal of the program is to help returning citizens navigate to stability and avoid recidivism.

Due to a new higher standard, the number and percentage of third graders who failed to meet the grade-level reading benchmark rose in 2025. However, taking the higher standard into account, this year’s third graders showed continued improvement, indicating that the state’s focus on improving early grades literacy is continuing to pay dividends.

This spring, 11.6% of students failed to reach the benchmark on the Reading portion of the state’s standardized test, the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP). Had the higher bar been in place in 2024, 13.7% of 3rd graders would have scored below the cut. In 2023, 20.8% of 3rd Graders would have scored below the cut.

Printable PDF available here.

In 2025, more students, 49,460, cleared the bar despite the higher standard. At the same time, more students, 6,470, fell below the reading sufficiency benchmark. The 2025 cohort of third graders is larger than previous years. That could mean more students will be required to repeat third grade. However, students who scored below the benchmark are offered intensive summer instruction, retesting, and alternative ways to qualify for promotion.

Improved performance

For the second year, the biggest gains in the percentage of third graders clearing the reading benchmark have occurred predominantly in rural school systems in the Black Belt. Those systems have high rates of economic disadvantage among students and have traditionally trailed other systems on various academic measures, but they have been making gains in reading.

This year, only 4% of Wilcox County students scored below grade level. That puts the system in the top 20 for performance, even though 91% of students in Wilcox County are economically disadvantaged.

Two systems, Orange Beach and Satsuma, had all their tested third graders reading on grade.

Breaking the Connection Between Poverty and Poor Reading Performance

While there is still a correlation between higher levels of economic disadvantage and high rates of reading struggles, the relationship has gotten weaker over time, with more high-poverty systems, particularly in rural areas, improving performance.

Other high-poverty systems, often in urban areas, are still struggling to close the gap. Large urban systems like Montgomery County and Birmingham City have higher concentrations and larger numbers of students testing below grade level. However, those systems also have magnet schools where all students achieved the reading benchmark. Within larger school systems, schools with similar demographics vary significantly when it comes to reading results.

The scatterplot chart below compares the percentage of students in the school who are below grade level on reading to the percentage of students from economically disadvantaged households. The higher on the chart a system is, the better its reading performance. The systems shaded green and lying to the right are schools with lower economic disadvantage. The size of the system’s circle corresponds to the number of third graders who failed to achieve the reading benchmark.

Schools

Despite the higher bar, in 42 schools, all third graders who were tested passed the reading benchmark. That included Princeton Elementary in the Birmingham system and three schools in the Montgomery County System: Bear Exploration Center, Macmillan International at McKee, and Forest Avenue Elementary School. The schools where all third graders met the benchmark ranged from Georgiana, where 86% of students are from economically disadvantaged households, to Mountain Brook and Crestline elementary schools, where only 2% of students are economically disadvantaged.

The two schools with the largest number of third graders who are below grade level in reading are virtual schools: the Alabama Virtual Academy at Eufaula City Schools, where 421 students, or 37%, failed to make the benchmark, and the Alabama Connections Academy of Limestone County, where 290 students, or 32% scored under the benchmark.

For Students Who Failed to Score At or Above the Benchmark

The 6,480 students who failed to reach the benchmark are in jeopardy of being required to repeat 3^rd grade, under the terms of the Alabama Literacy Act. However, there are several routes for promotion to the fourth grade.

Students who failed to clear the new reading sufficiency benchmark have access to intensive summer literacy camps sponsored by local school systems. After the intervention, they will be able to retest.

If they still fail to clear the bar, teachers and school officials have alternative means for evaluating the students’ reading skills. Other good-faith exemptions exist. In 2024, 4,808 students failed to pass the reading sufficiency benchmark. After retesting and applying exemptions, only 452 students were retained due to the Literacy Act, according to the Alabama Daily News reporting.

Second Grade Results

Also included in the data release were second-grade results. The cut score also went up for second grade. The second-grade score is intentionally set at a higher threshold so that more students who might be encountering reading struggles can be identified and receive intervention. Due to the higher bar, more students failed to meet the grade level sufficiency benchmark, 19% in 2025 compared to 17% in 2024. The 10,423 second-grade students who scored below the benchmark were encouraged to attend summer literacy camps and should receive special attention throughout their third-grade year.

Background

The intense interest in 3rd-grade reading is the result of the 2019 Literacy Act. The Act was modeled on similar legislation enacted in Florida and Mississippi. Both of those states saw large gains in reading performance on national standardized tests. The laws are based on the premise that students have to be reading on grade level by fourth grade. Students are taught to read from Kindergarten through third grade. In fourth grade, students are expected to read material to learn.

Numerous studies have found that students who aren’t reading on grade level by fourth grade are more likely to struggle academically and fail to complete high school. Low literacy skills are associated with difficulties in the job market and poor health outcomes.

While the Literacy Act’s grade retention provision received attention, the more consequential portions of the bill were its increased investment in improving literacy instruction, early screening for reading difficulties, and requirements for interventions and communication with parents. The Act re-energized the Alabama Reading Initiative and led to statewide training of teachers in techniques grounded in the science of reading.

Since implementation, Alabama has seen various measures of reading performance rise. Alabama is one of only two states (Louisiana is the other) in which 4th-grade students are performing better in reading than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP).  

Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) in the U.S. House has sparked discussions about the impact of reductions in federal funding across the U.S. KFF, a nonprofit policy analysis organization formerly known as Kaiser Family Foundation, estimates that the House Budget Committee’s reconciliation bill would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $791 billion without accounting for interactions that would lower estimates to $723 billion. Almost 85% of the total savings derived from five features:

• Mandating work and reporting requirements ($280 billion),
• Repealing rules simplifying Medicaid eligibility and renewal ($167 billion),
• Creating a moratorium on new or increased provider taxes ($89 billion),
• Revising state-directed payment limitations ($73 billion), and
• Increasing the frequency of eligibility re-determinations for the ACA expansion group ($53 billion).

Approximately $357 billion of the reductions would only apply to states that adopted ACA expansion.

Printable PDF available here.

Federal cuts to states of $723 billion over 10 years would represent 11% of federal spending on Medicaid over the period. KFF estimates that the cuts range from 5% in Alabama, Wisconsin, and Wyoming to 15% in Washington, Louisiana, and Illinois.

Congressional Budget Office estimates a 10.3 million loss of Medicaid enrollment by 2034, representing 12% of projected enrollment in that year. At the state level, the largest reductions in Medicaid enrollment would be in Washington and Virginia, decreasing by 25% and 20%, respectively. In Alabama, that would be about 4% or approximately 47,000 people.

As described in a previous post, Alabama receives more than $60 billion in federal transfer payments to individuals from Social Security, unemployment benefits, educational benefits such as Pell Grants, or as payments on behalf of individuals in Medicare or Medicaid, etc.

As the Economic Innovation Group noted in its report, The Great Transfer-mation: How American Communities Became Reliant on Income from Government, the main reason federal transfers have increased is the increase in the percentage of the population over the age of 65. Other economic factors have contributed to a reliance on federal transfers, particularly in rural areas with declining economic conditions.

Currently, among the transfer payments are approximately $15.5 billion (2022) to medical providers on behalf of Medicare recipients and another $7.6 billion (2022) on behalf of Medicaid patients, including covering approximately 44.7% of births in Alabama in 2023. Rates vary dramatically across counties, with 78.6% of births in Wilcox County covered by Medicaid to a low of 23.3% in Shelby County. Georgetown University’s McCourt School for Public Policy found that many small towns are dependent on Medicaid/CHIP funding. With 48.6% of children in rural areas of Alabama enrolled in 2023, the state ranks 12^th in the nation on that metric.

This past legislative session, the Alabama Legislature passed Senate Bill 102, expanding Medicaid benefits for pregnant women “with an estimated addition of $1 million annually for fiscal years 2026, 2027, and 2028, consisting of $726,300 in federal funds and $273,700 in state funds, by providing certain prenatal coverage to women found presumptively eligible by a qualified provider.” Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill on May 1.

Many medical facilities in Alabama depend on federal funding from Medicaid and Medicare patients. According to KFF, Medicare covered 63% of certified nursing facility residents in Alabama, while Medicaid covered approximately 13%, with only 24% covered by other private funding sources.

For the 80 hospitals in Alabama, operating margins were approximately 2.9% in 2023. However, they are generally thinner in poorer rural areas of the state. Nationwide, operating margins in rural hospitals are notoriously thin, with 44% of rural hospitals operating in the red. According to KFF, “As of July 2024, Medicaid was the primary payer for 63% of nursing facility residents; Medicare for 13% of residents; and the remaining 24% of residents had another primary payer (ex. private insurance, out-of-pocket, etc.) Medicare does not generally cover long-term care but does cover up to 100 days of skilled nursing facility care following a qualifying hospital stay.” 

In states without Medicaid expansion, just over half (53%) of rural hospitals operate in the red. Reductions in Medicaid or Medicare could have a significant impact on rural hospitals. KFF reports that rural hospitals had an average operating margin of 1.7% in 2023. Reductions in these amounts, whether direct payments to individuals or payments on behalf of recipients, as in the case of Medicaid and Medicare, would reduce, dollar for dollar, the purchasing power in those communities.

Using the slider and program selector in the visualization below, estimates of how a percentage decrease for each kind of transfer can be adjusted to find dollar amounts for hypothetical decreases:

Alabama is not alone. The same kind of dependence can be seen across the country.

There are common patterns across the places where economic activity has been challenging, including the Texas Valley, the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia, and tribal territories. Still, many communities have aging populations, with high percentages of transfer payments compared to earned personal income, as shown below:

For details on the calculation of personal income and transfer payments, see this post on Github:
https://github.com/EIG-Research/EIG-Great-Transfer-Mation

New population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau place Mobile as the state’s second-largest city, behind booming Huntsville and ahead of Birmingham and Montgomery, both of which saw population declines according to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Mobile’s new status takes into account the city’s 2023 annexations of neighborhoods in Mobile County that were expected to add about 20,000 to the city’s population. According to revised Census estimates, the city jumped from less than 190,000 before 2020 to almost 210,000, pushing it well ahead of Birmingham which, for 2024, had an estimated population of 196,818.

Printable PDF available here.

However, despite its annexation bump, Census estimates show Mobile is still losing population, dropping by over 500 over the past year to an estimated 201,367. Birmingham and Montgomery are also continuing to see population declines. If current trends prevail, the three cities seem destined to continue jockeying back and forth. Currently, the population estimates have Birmingham in third, just in front of Montgomery, at 195,818.

The biggest surprise of the estimates was the small Jefferson County hamlet of Brookside, which had the highest population growth rate of any municipality in the state at 13.2%. The town added 158 residents, bringing its total to 1,357 residents. The town has a new neighborhood under construction that appears to be drawing new residents. Small towns and cities around Huntsville and in Shelby and St. Clair counties, outside of Birmingham, saw higher rates of growth in percentage terms, as did suburban cities around Montgomery. Small towns in Wiregrass surrounding Dothan and Enterprise also showed growth in percentage terms. And several Baldwin County communities ranked near the top in terms of percentage growth.

In terms of growth in numbers, the city of Huntsville is the state champ, drawing in another 4,174 new residents in 2024. The City of Madison, Huntsville’s suburban neighbor, added 3,007, ranking third in the state in numeric growth, and Athens, which also borders Huntsville, added 1,641, ranking fourth.

The City of Foley in Baldwin County grew by 3,012, ranking second in the state in numeric terms and tying for second in percentage growth at 12%. Foley’s fellow Baldwin County city of Loxley also grew 12%. Fairhope added 1,011 according to the estimates, ranking 8th in the state. Gulf Shores and Daphne also ranked in the state’s top 20 in the number of residents added.

Cross state rivals Tuscaloosa and Auburn continue to grow with Auburn adding 1,310 to edge out Tuscaloosa’s gain of 1,272 new residents. Auburn also has the secret weapon of Opelika next door, which added 1,313 new residents in 2024. That far outpaces Northport which grew by 280. Together, Tuscaloosa and Northport have about 150,00 residents compared to Auburn and Opelika’s 120,000.

The sharp drop in overdose deaths in 2024, both nationally and in Jefferson County, wasn’t an accident, according to members of the task force that works to combat the epidemic of drug-related deaths. Instead, it resulted from public policy changes and the geographically targeted deployment of resources.

Figure 1. Trends in Accidental Drug and Opioid Overdose Deaths in Jefferson County, 2012-2024. Source: Jefferson County Coroner’s Office data.

Printable PDF available here.

Thanks to those interventions, Jefferson County saw its first decline in overdose deaths since 2018. According to data from the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, drug overdose deaths peaked in the county in 2023, with 483 accidental drug-related deaths. That is more than double the number of people who died by homicide (197) in Jefferson County in 2023. And it is more than triple the number of overdose deaths Jefferson County experienced in 2012.

Accidental overdose deaths from opioids began rising in the 1990s with the proliferation of prescription pills. That was followed by a resurgence in heroin use, which was in turn followed by the arrival of fentanyl, an extremely potent synthetic opioid. Beginning in 2020, traffic fentanyl surged into Jefferson County, resulting in a skyrocketing death toll from overdoses.

In Jefferson County, the arrival of fentanyl hit the Black community especially hard. Historically, White deaths from drug overdoses had greatly outnumbered Blacks. But by 2023, Black overdose deaths eclipsed whites.

Figure 2. Trends in Overdose Deaths By Race, Jefferson County. Source: Jefferson County Coroner’s Office data.

Health officials nationally and in Alabama have been working to catch up with the epidemic. In 2017, Governor Kay Ivey established the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council, which pulled together the state departments of Public Health and Mental Health, local health providers, and a broad coalition of health care providers, drug treatment non-profits, and first responders. Much of the coordinating and data-gathering work has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Overdose Data to Action grant program. According to the CDC, factors driving the decline in overdose deaths include the “widespread, data-driven distribution of naloxone, which is a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose; better access to evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders; shifts in the illegal drug supply; a resumption of prevention and response after pandemic-related disruptions; and continued investments in prevention and response programs like CDC’s flagship Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) program.”

OD2A funding to the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Jefferson County Department of Health has supported the creation of a data-gathering and sharing program that is providing real-time information about where overdoses are occurring. Emergency medical services providers and hospitals are reporting overdose encounters as they happen, allowing public health officials to zero in on communities and even specific neighborhoods where overdoses are on the rise. Jefferson County’s Health Department has worked with the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, health care providers, and researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and other local agencies to gather, analyze, and act on the data.

With the data mapped and analyzed, partners from the healthcare and treatment community, first responders, and public health officials routinely meet to discuss patterns and develop a concerted approach to overdose prevention. Figure 3 shows the concentration of overdose deaths by zip code, for the peak year, 2023. Using the slider and directional arrows, you can cycle through years of data to see the rising numbers and shifting geographic concentration.

Figure 3. Mapping Overdose Deaths By Zip Code, by Year. Source: Jefferson County Coroner’s Office data.

Policy changes identified and lobbied for by the Overdose and Addiction Council set the stage for the interventions that appear to be driving down deaths. First, in June of 2022, the Alabama Legislature decriminalized Fentanyl test strips. Before the change, the strips that allow the detection of potentially fatal levels of the drug were considered drug paraphernalia, discouraging their availability and use.  Then, in March 2023, naloxone was made an over-the-counter medication, increasing access to the overdose-reversing treatment and allowing for distribution in the community.

In the wake of the changes and with an influx of funding from both federal and state opioid settlement money, a coalition of groups pushed out resources and training to make the life-saving resources available. The Alabama Department of Mental Health significantly increased naloxone distribution, distributing 46,482 kits at Back-to-School events, End Addiction Walks, and conferences and trainings for treatment providers serving high-risk individuals, local and rural law enforcement officers, and first responders. JCDH has an online Naloxone education portal on its website, www.jcdh.org, and sends Naloxone Kits and Fentanyl Test Strips by mail at no cost to people who request the kits through the website. In addition, JCDH provides both products through dispensing boxes at its health centers and at distribution boxes in other community locations.  JCDH also partners with local EMS, police, fire and rescue, and some independent pharmacies to provide the supplies as well.

Using Jefferson County Coroner’s data, the Jefferson County Health Department identified particular neighborhoods where overdose deaths were on the rise. To counter the trend, the department found avenues to distribute free Naloxone and Fentanyl test strips. They also launched public information campaigns, advertising the dangers of the drugs and resources for treatment services, in some cases, displaying the messages on the public transit buses that served the affected areas.

Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. David Hicks applauded the cooperation and the progress but stressed the need to sustain the effort.

“As we continue to address the challenges posed by overdose deaths in our community, it is crucial to recognize the progress we have made and the work that still lies ahead,” Hicks said. “Our collective efforts in prevention, education, and treatment are making a difference, but we must remain vigilant and committed to saving lives. Together, we can build a healthier and safer Jefferson County.”

PARCA is involved in an effort to encourage similar efforts to share, analyze, and act on data. The Birmingham-Jefferson County Justice Governance Partnership brings together county government, municipalities, multiple law enforcement agencies, schools, health providers, non-profits, and community groups to develop a common understanding and cooperative solutions to community challenges. For more information, visit the BJC-JGP website.

Leaders from city and county government, education, philanthropy, social services, and community are launching a new partnership to decrease violence and increase health and opportunity in Jefferson County.  

Coming in the wake of a record-setting year for homicides in the City of Birmingham, the Birmingham-Jefferson County Justice Governance Partnership (BJC-JGP) seeks to build a coordinated and sustained effort to understand and address the conditions that give rise to violence and the underlying vulnerabilities of the neighborhoods where violence is concentrated. The partnership grows out of a recognition that law enforcement alone cannot solve the problem and that community members and an array of agencies play a part in the solution.    

The Justice Governance Partnership is being launched with the support of the Aspen Institute’s Criminal Justice Reform Initiative (CJRI). The Aspen Institute is a nonpartisan educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Aspen is known for convening thought leaders from across the country to address complex public policy problems. Its Criminal Justice Reform Initiative brings together national experts in criminal justice, education, and budgeting with the aim of helping local communities develop more effective approaches to public safety. 

Birmingham is among a handful of communities piloting the Justice Governance Partnerships model. Aspen’s CJRI is also working with Grand Rapids, Michigan, and in rural South Carolina, and North Charleston, S.C. 

The formal launch of the JGP follows the release of the Birmingham Crime Commission Report, commissioned by Mayor Woodfin. The commission’s report called for the implementation of evidence-based violence reduction strategies, community engagement and investment, and sustainable governance to implement, monitor, and maintain short-term and long-term solutions. 

The Justice Governance Partnership serves as a vehicle for cooperating around implementation and monitoring progress. Partners across the cooperating organizations provide wide-ranging data to produce a Justice Audit, which quantifies conditions and identifies needs. The Audit is regularly updated to track progress.  

Meanwhile, the ultimate goal is to devise a Justice Reinvestment Plan, which identifies preventive investments that can improve neighborhood conditions and drive down the need for costly emergency responses. The Audit and Reinvestment Plan are tools that aim to identify actionable solutions to improve economic conditions, address violence, and mitigate other risk factors at the local level, focusing on under-served neighborhoods. 

About the Birmingham-Jefferson County Justice Governance Partnership 

The Birmingham-Jefferson County Justice Governance Partnership is a coalition dedicated to fostering a transparent, equitable, and effective justice system in Birmingham and Jefferson County. Through collaboration, policy innovation, and community engagement, the BJC-JGP seeks to address systemic challenges and create lasting change for the benefit of all residents. For more information, visit parcalabama.org/bjc-jgp.

Alabama’s population increased by more than 40,000, between July 2023 and July 2024, reaching a total of 5,157,699, according to estimates issued in December by the U.S. Census Bureau. Alabama ranked 22nd in percentage population increase and No. 24 in numeric population change.

Printable PDF available here.

The number of new Alabama residents arriving from other states (26,028) was down somewhat compared to 2023, part of a national trend of slowing domestic migration. However, international immigration increased over the same period, bringing 15,763 new residents from abroad into the state.

When it comes to natural population change in Alabama’s resident population, deaths exceeded births in 2024, according to the estimates. That is a trend that began in 2020 with the arrival of Covid-19 and has persisted thanks to an aging population and a smaller rising generation producing few babies.

Due to a range of negative health indicators, Alabama’s resident population has a shorter life expectancy than other states, resulting in a higher death rate. Alabama’s birth rate is higher than the U.S. average, but trails states with younger populations and higher levels of international immigration, both of which are associated with more births.

Nationally, international immigration drove population change with 2.8 million new residents coming to the U.S. from abroad during the 2024 estimate period. The highest number of international migrants arrived in Florida (411,322), California (361,057) and Texas (319,569). Alabama has one of lowest rates of international in-migration in the U.S. (ranking No. 43). Despite that, the state did see an increase in new arrivals compared to 2023, when about 13,000 international immigrants arrived. Both the 2023 and 2024 totals for international immigration are about double the average number of arrivals between 2010 and 2020. And far exceed the levels seen during the first Trump administration and the record lows during the pandemic.

The Southeastern U.S. is one of the fastest-growing regions in the U.S. Alabama ranks in the middle of pack of Southeastern states when it comes to population growth, outpacing Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Kentucky, but well behind the rates of growth seen in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

In recent years, Alabamians’ rate of participation in elections has lagged behind other states as electoral competition has decreased and as the state has failed to adopt measures other states have that increase the convenience and access to voting. According to political scientists, Alabama “cost of voting” is among the highest in the country, ranking No. 46 among the 50 states. Meanwhile, most other states now provide measures like early in-person voting and no-excuse absentee voting, measures that correlate with increased participation.

A new report by PARCA, How Alabama Democracy Compares, provides a detailed comparison of Alabama’s approach to voter registration, access to ballots, and democratic participation with those of other states.

This report is an installment of PARCA’s yearlong series on the unfinished work of reforming Alabama’s Constitution. This project is supported, in part, by the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform (ACCR) Foundation.

Alabama has a history of limiting participation in the democratic process. The state’s 1901 Constitution disenfranchised blacks and poor whites for more than half a century, until, inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, the U.S. Congress and federal court swept away discriminatory barriers to voting.

In 2022, Alabama adopted a revised and reorganized state constitution, deleting the last written relics of the original discriminatory language on voting rights. However, the report makes clear that Alabama has not kept pace with other states’ adoption of measures that make it easier and more convenient to register and vote.

In addition to the report, PARCA’s data dashboard includes interactive versions of the charts, with information drawn from the National Conference of State Legislatures, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the University of Florida Election Lab.

After being hit hard with declines during the Covid-19 pandemic, Birmingham and Mobile saw an ebb in population declines, while Huntsville and cities in Baldwin County, along with Auburn-Opelika and Tuscaloosa, continued to grow at a rapid pace. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates released this month point to widespread growth in cities in the northern tier of the state, and in the Wiregrass.

Printable PDF available here.

Populations in smaller towns of the Alabama Black Belt, and west and central Alabama continue to decline modestly, according to the estimates. The population also dropped in Montgomery. The capital city didn’t lose as many people as Birmingham in the first year of the pandemic but has seen steady losses over the past three years.

Montgomery’s estimated population decline of 1,657 was the largest drop among Alabama cities and compares to a decline of 695 in Mobile and 243 in Birmingham.

That allowed Birmingham to return to No. 2 in population among Alabama cities. Huntsville continues to move farther into the lead, with a population now topping 225,000.

In terms of metro area population, Birmingham is still more than twice as large, but growth there is occurring away from the central city.

Close-in suburbs Vestavia, Mountain Brook, and Homewood saw population declines, but farther from the city center, Shelby County cities like Chelsea, Pelham, and Calera saw growth.

Despite declines in Montgomery, Pike Road, Prattville, and Millbrook saw increases.

While Huntsville added the most people, adjacent Athens and not-too-distant Decatur and Florence are continuing to see population growth.

Though Mobile County cities are experiencing some population declines, it is clear that the growth in nearby Baldwin County is coming from domestic in-migration. Far more people are arriving in cities like Fairhope, Foley, Daphne, and Gulf Shores than the population declines in Mobile County would produce.

When looking at the entire country, it is plain to see that whatever population change is going on in Alabama pales in comparison to the movement in other parts of the country. New York City’s population declined by over 77,000 in 2023 according to the estimates. Meanwhile, Texas cities like Fort Worth and San Antonio passed more than 20,000 new residents apiece. Closer to home, Atlanta added over 12,000, Charlotte over 15,000, and Jacksonville, Fla, over 14,000.

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Please consider supporting PARCA. A contribution to PARCA is an investment in our state’s future. As a 501(c)3, charitable contributions allow PARCA to maintain its independence and ability to provide non-partisan support to communities throughout the state. All donations are tax deductible.

VOICES for Alabama’s Children published the 2023 Alabama Kids Count Data Book today, marking the 30th edition of the book published by the nonprofit. For the 8th year in a row, PARCA worked with VOICES as a data partner for the project.

– Children of color and children in poverty are shown to have much poorer outcomes and much poorer achievements in education.

– Child population continues to decrease. Over the last year, the number of children grew in only 20 of 67 counties.

– Children in Alabama are becoming increasingly more diverse ethnically and racially. While white and Black child populations are declining, since 2000, Hispanic children grew approximately 276%. The Asian/Pacific Islander population grew by 120%.

– The infant mortality rate has slightly decreased from 8.1 to 7.6 per 1,000 live births from 2011-2021. In real numbers, that means that 443 babies did not live to their 1st birthday in 2021. Maternity care is critical. 34.3% of Alabama counties are defined as maternity care deserts. More than 28% of Alabama women had no birthing hospital within 30 minutes, which is more than double the U.S. rate.

– In 2022, the percentage of Alabama high school students meeting college and career ready requirements was 79.1% from 76.5% in 2021.

– 2023 Work-based learning programs (Dual Enrollment and Career Training Programs) are estimated to have had an economic impact of $420,209,126.

– From 2015-2023 there has been a 16.9% increase in the number of children entering foster care services. Parental drug use is the leading reason for children entering foster care, making up 44%, followed by neglect at 22%.

– 10.4% of children in the state are living in extreme poverty. Black and Hispanic populations are disproportionately affected (38.3% and 36.7% respectively), while white children make up 13.5% of children in extreme poverty.

See how children in all 67 counties of our state are faring in education, health, economic security, and more. VOICES believers that every child in Alabama should have access and opportunity to thrive and become all they can be, and hopes that by utilizing this book’s insights, we can identify the challenges, set priorities, track our progress, and achieve real outcomes for children and families.

Access the 2023 Alabama Kids Count Data Book here.

Want to see this data at the national level? Visit the national KIDS COUNT Data Center to access hundreds of indicators, download data and create reports and graphics!