City · Houston County, Alabama

Dothan, Alabama

Dothan is a city in Houston County, Alabama, part of the Dothan, AL metro area. It has 71,514 residents. Dothan, Alabama has a quality-of-life score of 14 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,476 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Alabama it ranks #158 of 319 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), new business applications (high) and pharmacies (high). It ranks worst on child poverty rate (high), violent crime rate (high) and distance to an Amtrak station (high).

14Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,476 of 15,651 cities and towns
Alabama: #158 of 319 in AL
Population: 71,514 (2020-2024)
Land area: 90 mi²
Density: 791.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 0121184

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety4#14,929/15,637
Economy27#11,466/15,631
Housing82#2,729/14,977
Health15#13,299/15,609
Healthcare48#8,064/15,650
Environment12#13,636/15,453
Education16#13,124/15,649
Infrastructure21#12,312/15,650
Community12#13,827/15,651
Leisure & amenities45#8,574/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Dothan, Alabama ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Houston County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Effective property tax rate · low0.31%
97/100Alabama 0.37%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
New business applications · high24.9 /1k
96/100Alabama 13.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHouston County value
Pharmacies · high2.9 /10k
95/100Alabama 2.3 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHouston County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Alabama 11.8United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationHouston County value
Child care cost burden · low21.8%
89/100Alabama 25.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHouston County value
Job growth · high1.7%
86/100Alabama 0.7%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataHouston County value

Weaknesses

Child poverty rate · high31.1%
2/100Alabama 20.4%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Violent crime rate · high652 /100k
3/100Alabama 348 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHouston County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high161 mi
4/100Alabama 51 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHouston County value
Firearm deaths · high26.7 /100k
4/100Alabama 21.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHouston County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.495
6/100Alabama 0.479United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high9.2 µg/m³
8/100Alabama 8.6 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHouston County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
67,894 (2015-2019) → 71,514 (2020-2024)
+5.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.4% (2015-2019) → 87.4% (2020-2024)
+9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedImproving
3.5 /1k (2021) → 4.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+23%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$47,081 (2015-2019) → $55,792 (2020-2024)
+19%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Unemployment rateImproving
7.2% (2015-2019) → 4.3% (2020-2024)
−2.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
25.5% (2015-2019) → 27.6% (2020-2024)
+2.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Dothan, Alabama improved on 4 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Unemployment−2.9 points7.2% → 4.3%
Broadband+9 points78.4% → 87.4%
Bachelor's++2.1 points25.5% → 27.6%
Household income+19%$47,081 → $55,792

Declined2

Uninsured+1.3 points12.1% → 13.4%
Price / income+0.3×3.2× → 3.5×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Dothan, Alabama between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.5 min2015-2019	20.4 min2020-2024	+1.0 min	Within the margin of error	36%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.5%2015-2019	27.6%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Improved	44%
Broadband subscriptions	78.4%2015-2019	87.4%2020-2024	+9 points	Improved	55%
Child poverty rate	29.3%2015-2019	31.1%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	31%
Effective property tax rate	0.29%2015-2019	0.31%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	15%
High school diploma or higher	87.4%2015-2019	88.6%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Home price to income ratio	3.2×2015-2019	3.5×2020-2024	+0.3×	Declined	63%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5042015-2019	0.4952020-2024	−0.010	Within the margin of error	59%
Median household income	$47,0812015-2019	$55,7922020-2024	+19%	Improved	30%
Poverty rate	18.8%2015-2019	19.3%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Rent as share of income	28.5%2015-2019	28.7%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Rent-burdened households	47.1%2015-2019	47.1%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Unemployment rate	7.2%2015-2019	4.3%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Improved	89%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.1%2015-2019	13.4%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Declined	31%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Dothan, Alabama five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Dothan, Alabama in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Dothan, Alabama itself moved −1 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

71,514 residents (±472)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

29,351 households (±328)

Dothan, Alabama
Alabama share

Under $25k22%6,548
$25k–50k24%6,948
$50k–75k15%4,490

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

29,351 households (±328)

Dothan, Alabama
Alabama share

Own57%16,752
Rent43%12,599

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−2.1 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

31,101 workers (±546)

Dothan, Alabama
Alabama share

Drive alone84%26,050
Carpool8.9%2,765
Public transit0.2%†77

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Dothan, AL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Houston County, the county holding most of Dothan's residents.

Houston County has 2,859 employer establishments, 263 for every 10,000 residents (1.06× the US rate of 248; 1.27× Alabama's), with 44,694 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,111. The Census Bureau also counts 9,003 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,859; 9,003 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 263; US 248 · Alabama 207
Paid employees: 44,694
Average annual pay: $47,111; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Houston County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	263	24.2	1.16×About typical	3,512	$85,656	515
Restaurants and other eating places	233	21.4	1.17×About typical	4,935	$18,388	42
Specialty trade contractors	125	11.5	0.74×Fewer than typical	1,167	$51,668	558
Limited-service restaurants	119	10.9	1.36×More than typical	2,430	$15,977	13
Offices of physicians	104	9.6	1.48×More than typical	1,894	$110,986	104
Religious organizations	102	9.4	1.69×More than typical	926	$25,424	—
Lessors of real estate	92	8.5	0.69×Fewer than typical	413	$58,431	1,102
Full-service restaurants	86	7.9	1.03×About typical	2,216	$21,146	19
Gasoline stations	86	7.9	2.44×More than typical	429	$30,163	—
Construction of buildings	73	6.7	0.89×About typical	404	$58,693	241
Automotive repair and maintenance	72	6.6	1.32×More than typical	392	$48,867	143
Legal services	72	6.6	1.23×About typical	315	$70,917	82

Rank places for an industry Open Houston County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 108,726 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $7M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Dothan, Alabama: $97.97 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $7M; −8.8% vs FY2025
Per resident: $97.97; US $1,994
Sole-source: 85%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.5%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$5.4M77%
Defense Logistics Agency$1.1M16%
Department of the Navy$622K8.9%
Federal Aviation Administration$54.7K0.8%
USTRANSCOM$25.3K0.4%
Public Buildings Service$14.6K0.2%
Bureau of Reclamation$7,5120.1%
Internal Revenue Service$2,7700.0%

Top recipients

WIREGRASS REHABILITATION CENTER INC$5.7M81%
BSA AIRPORT HOLDINGS, LLC$684.1K9.8%
AERO-ONE AVIATION, LLC$443.5K6.3%
ALABAMA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE, INC THE$248.6K3.5%
SAFEGUARD SECURITY SOLUTIONS, LLC$92.7K1.3%

Spending by fiscal year

1.8MFY2017
3.3MFY2018
3.1MFY2019
61.3KFY2020
1.6MFY2021
2.3MFY2022
11.1MFY2023
3.5MFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Drycleaning and laundry services · 8123$5.7M81%
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing · 3241$1.1M16%
Colleges, universities, and professional schools · 6113$248.6K3.5%
Transportation and warehousing (NAICS 4922) · 4922$92.7K1.3%
Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812$25.3K0.4%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Dothan, Alabama

INTRODUCTORY FLIGHT TRAINING - ROTARY$8.1M
CAE USA INC.· Houston County, AL· Education & social services· May 12, 2023 – Jan 27, 2026· FA300223F0095
VISN 7 LAUNDRY AND LINEN SERVICES$6.2M
WIREGRASS REHABILITATION CENTER INC· Houston County, AL· Facilities & utilities· Jan 28, 2026 – Jun 26, 2026· 36C24726C0010
UNDERGRADUATE FLIGHT TRAINING IN THE C-172 AND GROB G120PT AIRCRAFT FOR THE IRISH AIR CORPS.$3.6M
CAE USA INC.· Houston County, AL· Education & social services· Apr 28, 2025 – Apr 3, 2026· FA300225P0011
MEDICAL LINEN AND LAUNDRY SERVICES

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Dothan, Alabama, so they do not add up across cities.

Dothan, Alabama's figures are part of those of Houston County, AL, Dale County, AL and Henry County, AL ($700.2M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Dothan is mostly in Houston County.

See federal money in Houston County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Dothan, Alabama is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Barry MooreR-AL-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 2.8%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Dothan, AL15

Other cities and towns in Houston County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0121184

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends