Most of the fastest-shrinking Alabama cities in 2023 were in the Birmingham metro area – continuing the trend of a declining population around what was long the state’s largest city.
But the Jefferson County cities aren’t losing population as fast as Selma, the Black Belt’s iconic civil rights town, which was the fastest-shrinking city from 2022 to 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
From July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023, Selma lost 341 residents, bringing its official population estimate to 16,666. That’s a decline of 2% in a single year – the largest drop among Alabama cities with more than 10,000 residents.
