Housing Report for Birmingham-Hoover

The residential home values in Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama have experienced moderate increases from the housing values in 2000. The residential values have increased by $18,800, or 18.9 percent, from their 2000 median values of $99,400.

Birmingham-Hoover had a median home value in the year 2005 of $118,200, published by the American Community Survey. This home value is greater than the overall Alabama 2005 median home value of $97,500 and less than median home value of $167,500 for the United States in the same year.

When comparing areas across the State of Alabama, Birmingham-Hoover is positioned 4 of the 11 metro areas in terms of growth of new housing structures between 2001 and 2005. The MSA stands 197 of 361, when comparing the change in housing structures in other metropolitan areas throughout the nation.

In Birmingham-Hoover, there were a total of 484,775 housing structures in 2005. The metro area has seen a medium level of growth in the number housing units, adding a total of 22,481 residential units since 2001, or 4.9 percent.

Birmingham-Hoover can be understood as having a medium proportion of residential real estate that is high priced. During the year 2005, the American Community Survey reports that 3.5 percent of the houses were valued over a half a million dollars.

It can be understood that there is a large amount of housing that is affordable in Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama. In 2005, 52.9 percent of the homes were valued under $125,000.

Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Employment Report for Birmingham, Alabama -- Annual 2005 Industry Summary

A high-wage industry in Birmingham is the finance and insurance industry with an average annual wage of $56,879. From the year 2001, the industry annual average wages have grown by 23.3 percent or $10,739. The State of Alabama has a similar economic condition in the finance and insurance sector, standing near the top of industries in terms of 2004 annual average wages.

Accommodation and food services saw the biggest increase in jobs since the year 2001 in Birmingham, with an industry growth of 9.1 percent. This is greater than the United States change in the sector jobs of 7.6 percent. The State of Alabama experienced a sector employment shift of 8.9 percent, from 2001 to 2005.

In Birmingham, Finance and insurance, Mining and Construction industries, in terms of United States location quotient, are the most dominant in the region. The Finance and insurance industry has an LQ of 1.43. This means the percent of total employment in the Finance and insurance sector is 1.43 times more than the average percent in the United States, revealing signs that Birmingham may be an exporter of products or services of Finance and insurance.

Mining has the largest employers in Birmingham MSA, with the industry averaging 41 jobs per establishment, which is greater than the US industry average of 21 and greater than the Alabama average establishment size of 27 for the Mining industry.

In Birmingham, Retail Trade, Health care and social assistance, and the Manufacturing sectors are the largest industries, in terms of total number of jobs in 2005. The Retail Trade is the largest employment industry and makes up 15.1 percent of all jobs throughout the region, totaling 62,229 employees. The Health care and social assistance and Manufacturing industries make up 13.5 and 10.4 percent of all employment.







Datasource: U.S. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW).