Market Highlights
Located in Northern Alabama, Huntsville has become one of the country’s most desirable places to live. Nicknamed the “Rocket City”, Huntsville’s primary industries are Aerospace & Defense, High-Tech Manufacturing, Information Systems & Security, Life Sciences, Headquarters & Operations, and Music, and the region and state have been able to compete successfully with primary markets to recruit top employers due to its pro-business position. 59 of the Fortune 500 companies have a presence in Huntsville, including some of the world’s most recognizable brands including Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Verizon, Comcast, AT&T, Meta, Toyota, UPS, and FedEx. Other recognizable organizations include the U.S. Army, NASA, the FBI, Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos), and Boeing. Huntsville is far outpacing national averages in job & employment growth, population growth, and economic growth:
Job/Employment Growth
- 37,800 new jobs created from 2018-2023
- 16% employment growth from 2018-2023 (U.S. average – 5%)
- $6.4 billion in new industrial investment from 2018-2023, led by Meta, Amazon, Blue Origin, Boeing, Mazda, Toyota, & Lockheed Martin
- 54% employment growth from 2000-2023 (U.S. average – 22%)
- 76.8% projected employment growth by 2060
Population Growth
- 54% population growth (Limestone & Madison Co) from 2000-2023 (U.S. average – 19%)
- 1.82% population growth from 2022-2023
Economic Growth
- $12.9 billion / 97.6 million SF of construction from 2018-2023
- Active Projects – $3.9 billion of investment / 5,916 jobs / 22 total projects
Additionally, major recent economic investments continue to have a significant impact on the economy. The $2.3 billion Mazda Toyota production plant began production in 2021. The plant employs 4,000 people and produces 300,000+ vehicles per year. Amazon has 2 distribution centers in the area (HSV1 & HSV2) that total 2 million SF and employ 1,000 people.
Cummings Research Park is a major contributor to Huntsville’s success. Located roughly 5 miles west of Downtown Huntsville, it is the 2nd-largest research park in the country and the 4th largest in the world. More than 300 companies and 27,000 jobs are based on its over 3,800-acre site. Established in 1962, the park was started to support the “ground-breaking governmental research of Redstone Arsenal”. Some of the park’s more prominent employers include Dynetics, Lockheed Martin, Redstone Federal Credit Union, Calhoun Community College, ADTRAN, Teledyne, and University of Alabama at Huntsville. Redstone Arsenal, which originated in 1941, is a U.S. Army installation occupying 38,000+ acres in Huntsville and employing 37,000 people, making it the area’s largest employer.
Other major contributors to the region’s economy include Huntsville Hospital (11,149 jobs / 881 beds) and Huntsville International Airport ($1.8 billion economic impact and 1.2 million annual visitors).
The Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL-TN CSA consists of 7 counties in Alabama and southern Tennessee for a total population of 895,383. The apartment market consists of 313 apartment communities (50+ units) and 53,709 total units, with average asking rents currently sitting at $1,266. The “North Alabama” region encompasses another 9 counties and additional population of 460,690, including 84 apartment communities (50+ units) and 8,086 total units. The total population of the 16-county North Alabama region is 1,356,073 and includes other nearby markets including Florence and Cullman.
