Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

Tuscaloosa County is a county in Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River about 50 miles southwest of Birmingham. It had a population of 227,036 at the 2020 census, an estimated 241,368 by 2024, and covers 1,322 square miles (3,424 km2) centred near 33°12′N 87°32′W.

Tuscaloosa is the county seat and largest city; its postal code is 35401. The county holds 4 cities, 5 incorporated towns and several smaller unincorporated communities. Alabama has no civil townships, so places here are not grouped that way. The county runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 01125.

Towns & Villages in Tuscaloosa County

The county has 9 incorporated municipalities — 4 cities and 5 towns, three of which straddle a neighboring county line — plus 2 census-designated places (CDPs) and several unincorporated communities with their own post offices. CDP and Unincorp. entries have no local government of their own.

Three of the towns are county-line straddlers, not full-Tuscaloosa places. Vance sits mostly in Bibb County, with its town limits crossing into Tuscaloosa near the Mercedes-Benz plant. Moundville is centred in Hale County and extends north into Tuscaloosa County; its population figure above is the whole town, not just the Tuscaloosa share. Woodstock is a Bibb County town that reaches northwest into Tuscaloosa County. The county-owned population share for each is not separately published by the Census Bureau.

ZIP Codes

• 35401 — Tuscaloosa (downtown and central city)
• 35404 — Holt (also serves eastern Tuscaloosa)
• 35405/35406/35407 — Tuscaloosa (west, north and University of Alabama campus)
• 35473 — Northport
• 35475/35476 — Northport (north and west)
• 35444 — Brookwood
• 35449 — Coaling
• 35452 — Coker
• 35453 — Cottondale
• 35474 — Moundville
• 35188 — Woodstock
• 35490 — Vance
• 35446 — Buhl
• 35456 — Duncanville
• 35458 — Elrod
• 35457 — Echola
• 35463 — Fosters

Lake View and Taylorville have no ZIP code of their own; Lake View mail runs through neighboring Tuscaloosa or Northport codes, and Taylorville has no active post office.

Geography

Tuscaloosa County sits at the fall line where the Appalachian foothills meet the Gulf Coastal Plain, and the Black Warrior River splits the county roughly north to south on its way to the Tombigbee and Mobile Bay. Lake Tuscaloosa, a reservoir on the North River northwest of the city, is the county’s largest lake and its main drinking-water source. Water covers about 30 square miles of the county’s total.

Walker County borders to the northeast, Jefferson County to the east, Bibb County to the southeast, Hale County to the south, Greene County to the southwest, Pickens County to the west, and Fayette County to the northwest. Greene County has no live profile on this site to link to.

Demographics

Tuscaloosa County had 227,036 residents at the 2020 census, rising to an estimated 241,368 by 2024. Tuscaloosa itself is the largest community with 99,600 people, followed by Northport at 31,125 — together the two cities hold more than half the county’s population. Median household income in the county runs below the Alabama state figure, largely because a large share of residents are University of Alabama students with little reported income. Population density is roughly 172 people per square mile of land.

Economy & Local Life

The University of Alabama is the county’s largest employer, with a campus workforce and student body that anchor the local economy and drive retail, housing and hospitality demand year-round. The Mercedes-Benz U.S. International plant in Vance, opened in 1995, employs more than 4,000 people making SUVs for export and domestic sale — the county’s largest manufacturing employer. DCH Health System runs the region’s main hospital network from Tuscaloosa. The Kentuck Festival of the Arts, held in Northport every October, draws folk and outsider-art collectors from across the Southeast and is the county’s best-known annual event.

History

Tuscaloosa County was organized on February 6, 1818, from land the Choctaw Nation had ceded to the United States, a year before Alabama achieved statehood. It takes its name from Chief Tuskaloosa, a 16th-century Mississippian leader whose warriors fought Hernando de Soto’s expedition at the 1540 Battle of Mabila. The city of Tuscaloosa served as the capital of Alabama from 1826 to 1846, when the seat of government moved to Montgomery, and the University of Alabama opened there in 1831. On April 27, 2011, an EF4 tornado cut a six-mile path through Tuscaloosa, killing dozens and destroying large sections of the city in one of the costliest tornadoes in U.S. history; the county has since rebuilt much of the affected corridor.

Getting There

Interstates 20 and 59 run concurrently through the county’s north side toward Birmingham, and Interstate 359 spurs south into downtown Tuscaloosa; US Routes 11, 43 and 82 cross the county as well.

• Birmingham — 50 miles northeast
• Montgomery — 100 miles southeast
• Meridian, Mississippi — 90 miles west
• Selma — 65 miles south

Tuscaloosa Regional Airport (KTCL) handles general aviation and charter flights; the nearest commercial airport is Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, about 50 miles away. Amtrak’s Crescent line stops at the Tuscaloosa station on its New Orleans–New York route.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Tuscaloosa County?
It is in west-central Alabama, on the Black Warrior River about 50 miles southwest of Birmingham.

What is the population of Tuscaloosa County?
227,036 at the 2020 census, an estimated 241,368 by 2024.

How big is Tuscaloosa County?
1,322 square miles (3,424 km2) of land and water.

What is the county seat of Tuscaloosa County?
Tuscaloosa is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Tuscaloosa County?
9 incorporated municipalities — 4 cities and 5 towns — plus 2 census-designated places and several unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes serve Tuscaloosa County?
Main codes include 35401 and 35404–35407 for Tuscaloosa, 35473/35475/35476 for Northport, and separate codes for Brookwood, Coaling, Coker, Cottondale, Moundville, Vance and Woodstock.

Does the Mercedes-Benz plant sit in Tuscaloosa County?
The plant is in Vance, a town whose limits straddle Tuscaloosa and Bibb counties, just southeast of the city of Tuscaloosa.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Alabama, including Mobile County on the Gulf Coast.