Mobile County vs Tuscaloosa County

A side-by-side comparison of Mobile County and Tuscaloosa County: population, income, housing, and more.

Mobile County and Tuscaloosa County are counties in Alabama. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Mobile County has the higher population (413,162 vs 234,036 in Tuscaloosa County). Tuscaloosa County has the higher median household income ($63,947 vs $58,119 in Mobile County). Tuscaloosa County has the higher median home value ($233,700 vs $176,600 in Mobile County).

Population, income & housing

	Mobile County	Tuscaloosa County
Population	413,162	234,036
Median age	38.4 yrs	33.0 yrs
Median household income	$58,119	$63,947
Median home value	$176,600	$233,700
Median gross rent	$1,021	$997
Housing units	185,413	102,935
Homeownership rate	64.9%	62.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.2%	31.4%
Unemployment rate	5.3%	5.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Mobile County	Tuscaloosa County
Population	414,114 → 413,162 (-0.2%)	207,305 → 234,036 (+12.9%)
Median household income	$47,583 → $58,119 (+22.1%)	$53,326 → $63,947 (+19.9%)
Median home value	$130,200 → $176,600 (+35.6%)	$170,400 → $233,700 (+37.1%)
Median gross rent	$853 → $1,021 (+19.7%)	$846 → $997 (+17.8%)

Mobile County

Population

414,114413,162

Median household income

$47,583$58,119

Median home value

$130,200$176,600

Median gross rent

$853$1,021

Tuscaloosa County

Population

207,305234,036

Median household income

$53,326$63,947

Median home value

$170,400$233,700

Median gross rent

$846$997

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Mobile County	Tuscaloosa County
Under 5	6.4%	5.5%
5 to 17	17.0%	15.1%
18 to 24	8.8%	18.1%
25 to 34	13.8%	13.8%
35 to 44	12.4%	12.1%
45 to 54	11.7%	10.9%
55 to 64	13.0%	10.8%
65 to 74	10.3%	8.7%
75 and over	6.6%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Mobile County	Tuscaloosa County
White (non-Hispanic)	55.3%	59.3%
Black or African American	35.9%	31.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	2.1%	1.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.8%	1.8%
Hispanic or Latino	3.3%	5.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Mobile County	Tuscaloosa County
No high school diploma	11.0%	9.1%
High school graduate	33.8%	28.9%
Some college or associate's	30.0%	30.6%
Bachelor's degree	16.2%	18.3%
Graduate or professional degree	8.9%	13.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Mobile County	Tuscaloosa County
Drove alone	83.2%	79.6%
Carpooled	6.9%	10.6%
Public transit	0.4%	0.8%
Walked	1.0%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.3%
Worked from home	7.5%	6.6%
Other means	0.9%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Mobile County	Tuscaloosa County
1-unit, detached	72.8%	60.7%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	1.6%
2 to 4 units	3.7%	5.9%
5 to 19 units	9.8%	13.0%
20 or more units	5.1%	9.7%
Mobile home & other	7.5%	9.0%

Poverty & households

	Mobile County	Tuscaloosa County
Poverty rate	16.3%	16.7%
Average household size	2.53	2.52
Mean commute (minutes)	26	23
Median year structure built	1979	1992