City · Mobile County, Alabama

Semmes, Alabama

Semmes is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, part of the Mobile, AL metro area. It has 5,626 residents. Semmes, Alabama has a quality-of-life score of 10 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,052 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Alabama it ranks #199 of 319 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), effective property tax rate (low) and days with unhealthy air (low). It ranks worst on homicide rate (high), primary care shortage (high) and natural hazard risk (high).

10Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,052 of 15,651 cities and towns
Alabama: #199 of 319 in AL
Population: 5,626 (2020-2024)
Land area: 16 mi²
Density: 356.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 0169240

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety6#14,743/15,637
Economy30#10,930/15,631
Housing75#3,712/14,977
Health26#11,531/15,609
Healthcare16#13,090/15,650
Environment17#12,812/15,453
Education7#14,538/15,649
Infrastructure18#12,783/15,650
Community14#13,469/15,651
Leisure & amenities41#9,211/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Semmes, Alabama ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Mobile 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

Pharmacies · high2.5 /10k
89/100Alabama 2.3 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMobile County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.48%
89/100Alabama 0.37%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMobile County value
New homes permitted · high8.0 /1k
84/100Alabama 4.2 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Comfortable days · high31.2%
84/100Alabama 28.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMobile County value
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Alabama 6.0United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMobile County value

Weaknesses

Homicide rate · high14.8 /100k
3/100Alabama 9.8 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMobile County value
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100Alabama 11.8United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMobile County value
Natural hazard risk · high94.2
6/100Alabama 57.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMobile County value
Preventable hospital stays · high4,201 /100k
7/100Alabama 3,481 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMobile County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high9.2 µg/m³
7/100Alabama 8.6 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMobile County value
Math scores · low2.58
8/100Alabama 2.65United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMobile County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
5,284 (2015-2019) → 5,626 (2020-2024)
+6.5%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
28.8 /1k (2021) → 8.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−72%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.3% (2015-2019) → 86.0% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
High school diploma or higherImproving
81.7% (2015-2019) → 93.1% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
9.5% (2015-2019) → 19.3% (2020-2024)
+9.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Poverty rateWorsening
14.5% (2015-2019) → 22.5% (2020-2024)
+8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Semmes, Alabama improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved2

Broadband+13 points73.3% → 86.0%
Household income+35%$49,234 → $66,417

Declined1

Uninsured+9.8 points9.5% → 19.3%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Semmes, Alabama between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	34.1 min2015-2019	23.9 min2020-2024	−10.2 min	Within the margin of error	98%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.9%2015-2019	18.0%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Broadband subscriptions	73.3%2015-2019	86.0%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	72%
Child poverty rate	17.7%2015-2019	25.2%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Effective property tax rate	0.31%2015-2019	0.48%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Little change	3%
High school diploma or higher	81.7%2015-2019	93.1%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	97%
Home price to income ratio	3.1×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	68%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4012015-2019	0.4932020-2024	+0.092	Within the margin of error	6%
Median household income	$49,2342015-2019	$66,4172020-2024	+35%	Improved	65%
Poverty rate	14.5%2015-2019	22.5%2020-2024	+8 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	29.1%2015-2019	24.1%2020-2024	−5 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Rent-burdened households	43.9%2015-2019	43.2%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.5%2015-2019	19.3%2020-2024	+9.8 points	Declined	3%

“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 Semmes, Alabama five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Semmes, 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, Semmes, Alabama itself moved +8.6 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

5,626 residents (±21)

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

2,286 households (±217)

Semmes, Alabama
Alabama share

Under $25k22%†495
$25k–50k18%†415
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,286 households (±217)

Semmes, Alabama
Alabama share

Own70%1,599
Rent30%†687

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,523 workers (±278)

Semmes, Alabama
Alabama share

Drive alone82%2,064
Carpool4.6%†115
Public transit0.0%0

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 Mobile, 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 Mobile County, the county holding most of Semmes's residents.

Mobile County has 8,960 employer establishments, 218 for every 10,000 residents (0.88× the US rate of 248; 1.05× Alabama's), with 157,810 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,348. The Census Bureau also counts 34,995 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 8,960; 34,995 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 218; US 248 · Alabama 207
Paid employees: 157,810
Average annual pay: $54,348; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	614	14.9	0.81×About typical	13,130	$18,555	190
Ambulatory health care services	569	13.8	0.66×Fewer than typical	9,260	$77,162	1,795
Specialty trade contractors	514	12.5	0.81×About typical	6,769	$63,227	2,375
Lessors of real estate	363	8.8	0.72×Fewer than typical	1,112	$51,327	3,045
Limited-service restaurants	348	8.5	1.05×About typical	7,148	$16,565	51
Religious organizations	347	8.4	1.52×More than typical	3,403	$21,859	—
Building equipment contractors	247	6	1.00×About typical	3,585	$67,615	439
Legal services	229	5.6	1.03×About typical	1,344	$95,876	291
Services to buildings and dwellings	220	5.3	0.79×Fewer than typical	1,775	$30,794	3,403
Truck transportation	220	5.3	1.06×About typical	3,256	$57,257	960
Gasoline stations	219	5.3	1.64×More than typical	1,670	$25,011	25
Full-service restaurants	205	5	0.65×Fewer than typical	5,138	$21,567	89

Rank places for an industry Open Mobile County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 411,693 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Semmes, Alabama: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

56.2KFY2017
2.9KFY2018
455.2FY2019
3.9KFY2020
4KFY2021
16.5KFY2022
6.1KFY2023
34.7KFY2024
-9.1KFY2025

What was bought

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 Semmes, Alabama, so they do not add up across cities.

Semmes, Alabama's figures are part of those of Mobile County, AL ($868.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Mobile 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.

Semmes, Alabama is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

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.

Mobile County18100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Mobile, AL19

Other cities and towns in Mobile 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/0169240

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends