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Mobile County, AL — Dentists Saturation

How many dentists exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 47 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: General & family dentists · Orthodontists · Oral surgeons · Other dental specialists. Counted together because official statistics use one 621210 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.54× the U.S. rate (between 0.54× and 0.90× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 40 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 29 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Range spans the U.S. rate   Mobile County dentists — 54–90% of the U.S. rate

89 dentists are counted in Mobile County — 1.8 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 54% of the U.S. rate of 3.4.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 5% between 2015 and 2023 (85 → 89). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 36609 (Mobile), 36608 (Mobile), 36607 (Mobile) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 36695 (Mobile), 36618 (Mobile), 36606 (Mobile).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 122 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Mobile County sits at 54% of the U.S. rate for dentists. 29 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 54% and 90% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 36609 and 36608; the lowest measured density is in 36695 and 36618.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing dentists and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Dentists
89–169
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (40 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
1.8
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
3.4
per 10,000 present
County index
0.54×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
122
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
412,817
36 ZIPs with data
Workers
152,918
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
412,339
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
−0.5%
−2,070 people
Net migration 2024
+246
international +762, domestic −516
Jobs located here
177,002
LODES 2022, +0.3% since 2019

Mobile County had an estimated 412,339 residents on July 1, 2024 — 0.5% fewer than in 2020 (−2,070). In the latest year it gained 594 people: births minus deaths +355, international migration +762, domestic migration −516. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

177,002 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+0.3% since 2019), and 167,794 employed residents lived there (−1.3% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
36572 Satsuma
+12.4%
36571 Saraland
+10.8%
36611 Mobile
+8.9%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
36617 Mobile
−16.4%

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses (no paid employees)

Nonemployer businesses
63
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$5.3M
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$83K
gross, not profit

Census Nonemployer Statistics counts businesses with no paid employees — a separate universe from the employer establishments counted above; a business is in one or the other, never both. They are not storefronts by definition: many are home-based, mobile, or part-time.

We show them beside the density index, not inside it. In categories such as nail and beauty salons, child care, and pet care, one-person businesses can outnumber employer establishments, so the employer-only count understates how many businesses exist. That is not evidence of higher demand.

Receipts are gross revenue reported for these businesses — not profit, and not the size of the local market. Census publishes this only at county level, so it is not shown on the ZIP map. See methodology.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more dentists in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 5% since 2015

Number of dentists in Mobile County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

85
2015
88
2018
85
2020
81
2021
89
2022
89
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
36609 Mobile
292%
36608 Mobile
160%
36607 Mobile
142%
36619 Mobile
119%
36606 Mobile
82%
36618 Mobile
77%
36695 Mobile
56%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
36695 Mobile
56%
36618 Mobile
77%
36606 Mobile
82%
36619 Mobile
119%
36607 Mobile
142%
36608 Mobile
160%
36609 Mobile
292%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few dentists may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersDentistsIndex
36505Axis Employment hub 7621,864 0–2 —
36512Bucks Destination 7552 0–2 —
36602Mobile Destination 1,04311,719 0–2 —
36652Mobile Destination 53899 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = dentists per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersDentists Per 10kIndexStatus
36609Mobile 23,8209,506 28 9.8 292% Very high density
36608Mobile 38,89019,383 26 5.4 160% High density
36607Mobile 5,39310,160 5 4.8 142% Above average
36619Mobile 14,6975,823 7 4.0 119% Above average
36606Mobile 18,72813,593 7 2.7 82% Below average
36618Mobile 17,8922,775 5 2.6 77% Below average
36695Mobile 52,69012,055 11 1.9 56% Below average
36505Axis 7621,864 0–2 — — Not published
36509Bayou La Batre 1,2331,053 0–2 — — Not published
36512Bucks 7552 0–2 — — Not published
36521Chunchula 5,536406 0–2 — — Not published
36522Citronelle 7,116911 0–2 — — Not published
36523Coden 2,972576 0–2 — — Not published
36525Creola 1,9452,185 0–2 — — Not published
36528Dauphin Island 1,852518 0–2 — — Not published
36541Grand Bay 15,5901,188 0–2 — — Not published
36544Irvington 10,5216,403 0–2 — — Not published
36560Mount Vernon 2,858255 0–2 — — Not published
36568Saint Elmo 21344 0–2 — — Not published
36571Saraland 17,1436,268 0–2 — — Not published
36572Satsuma 6,9221,044 0–2 — — Not published
36575Semmes 23,4813,048 0–2 — — Not published
36582Theodore 23,70512,403 0–2 — — Not published
36587Wilmer 12,013696 0–2 — — Not published
36590Theodore —132 0–2 — — Not published
36601Mobile —118 0–2 — — Not published
36602Mobile 1,04311,719 0–2 — — Not published
36603Mobile 7,7602,547 0–2 — — Not published
36604Mobile 8,8363,533 0–2 — — Not published
36605Mobile 25,1042,274 0–2 — — Not published
36610Mobile 9,8772,527 0–2 — — Not published
36611Mobile 6,3321,170 0–2 — — Not published
36612Mobile 3,2741,589 0–2 — — Not published
36613Eight Mile 12,2341,557 0–2 — — Not published
36615Mobile 03,673 0–2 — — Not published
36616Mobile —131 0–2 — — Not published
36617Mobile 11,1285,358 0–2 — — Not published
36633Mobile —29 0–2 — — Not published
36652Mobile 53899 0–2 — — Not published
36660Mobile —20 0–2 — — Not published
36670Mobile —83 0–2 — — Not published
36671Mobile —40 0–2 — — Not published
36685Mobile —165 0–2 — — Not published
36688Mobile 2,471219 0–2 — — Not published
36689Mobile —13 0–2 — — Not published
36691Mobile —434 0–2 — — Not published
36693Mobile 18,7266,817 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Mobile

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Mobile retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Mobile retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Mobile retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Mobile County and dentists

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 621210 — offices of dentists. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. BLS QCEW (quarterly) is newer than ZBP — 2026 Q1 shows 122 establishments county-wide for this industry. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (3.35 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.