county

Pickens County, AL

Demographic and economic profile of Pickens County, AL, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Pickens County is a small rural Alabama county of 18,843 residents with a labor force participation rate of just 47.2% and an unemployment rate of 6.5%, reflecting a workforce constrained in size and availability; only 13.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Median household income stands at $46,274 against a poverty rate of 22.6%, while housing costs remain low—median home value of $123,300 and median gross rent of $600/month—alongside a 75.8% homeownership rate. The county's population has declined 7.2% over five years, and a mean commute of 34.0 minutes suggests residents regularly travel outside the county for work.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

18,843

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$46,274

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-7.2% since 2018

Pickens County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone10,468 (55.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone7,663 (40.9%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races404 (2.2%)
  • Some Other Race Alone71 (0.4%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone61 (0.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race44 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish912
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic29
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)16
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)10

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

61.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,066

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$22,114

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$26,328

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

22.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)1,511
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,196
  3. 3.Construction (Group)804
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)703
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities526

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,933
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,575
  3. 3.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,185
  4. 4.Service Occupations1,135
  5. 5.Sales & Office Occupations915

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.40×)1,640
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.62×)178
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.53×)496
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.34×)636
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.34×)537

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$123,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$600/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

75.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999490 (9.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999473 (9.2%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999421 (8.2%)
  • $50,000 to $59,999367 (7.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999365 (7.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999357 (7.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

13.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

83.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

47.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$35,448

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

32.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone5,817 (90.2%)
  • Worked At Home324 (5.0%)
  • Carpooled246 (3.8%)
  • Public Transit52 (0.8%)
  • Walked12 (0.2%)
  • Taxi0 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Pickens County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.