Home / Full-service restaurants / Alabama

Restaurants in Alabama

How many restaurants exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 8 Alabama counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

Includes: Sit-down restaurants with table service. Counted together because official statistics use one 722511 code.

State verdict (covered counties): Below the U.S. rate — 76% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Alabama

Restaurants

1,532

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

4.8

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

6.4

per 10,000 present

State index

76%

vs. U.S.

Residents

2,628,514

in covered counties

Workers

1,070,735

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 8 Alabama counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing restaurants and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in Alabama

City	County	Restaurants	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Daphne	Baldwin County	236–264	246,411	69,864	8.3	130–141%	Above average
Opelika	Lee County	130–146	177,802	52,583	6.4	100–107%	Range spans bands
Huntsville	Madison County	240–272	409,415	185,010	4.8	75–80%	Below average
Birmingham	Jefferson County	390–474	711,294	355,228	4.4	69–78%	Below average
Tuscaloosa	Tuscaloosa County	113–139	219,464	79,750	4.4	68–79%	Below average
Montgomery	Montgomery County	121–165	228,185	100,573	4.3	68–82%	Below average
Birmingham	Shelby County	109–133	223,126	74,809	4.2	65–75%	Below average
Mobile	Mobile County	193–255	412,817	152,918	3.9	62–75%	Below average

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

130%

100%

75%

69%

68%

68%

65%

62%

Most competitors per capita

62%

65%

68%

68%

69%

75%

100%

130%

Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few restaurants may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

← All Full-service restaurants markets nationwide · Methodology · Data sources

Check your ZIP · Low-density ZIPs nearby · Answers · Data story · Methodology · Data sources · About · Privacy · Terms · Updates (RSS)

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.