A Split-State Map: 52.5% of Alabama Lives Near Montgomery, 47.5% Beyond

By SimpleMapLab·Published 13 May 2026·Rank #33 of 50 states·↑ All 50 states

52.5% of Alabama’s population — about 2.67 M of 5.09 M residents — lives within 100 miles of Montgomery. The other 47.5% — including Mobile — sits beyond the circle.

A 100-mile geodesic radius around the Montgomery, AL state capitol overlaid on Alabama. 52.5% of Alabama's population lives inside the dashed ring.

52.5%

of Alabama’s population within 100 miles of Montgomery

2.67 M

residents inside the radius (of 5.09 M statewide)

52 mi

from Montgomery to Alabama’s population centroid

#33

of 50 states ranked by capital-to-population centrality

Open this radius in the map → /tools/map-radius-tool · Montgomery, AL · 100 mi
The link opens the SimpleMapLab Map Radius Tool with the 100-mile circle already drawn around the Montgomery capitol. Change the radius to 50, 250, or any value to compare different framings.

Why this happened

Alabama is a "split" state by this measure: roughly half its residents live within an hour and a half of the capital, and roughly half live beyond. Montgomery's 100-mile reach captures Birmingham (~502K) and the surrounding counties, but stops well short of Mobile, which sits 155 miles away. The capital-to-population-centroid distance is 52 miles — a clear signal that political and demographic weight no longer share a single point on the map.

The biggest cities inside the 100-mile radius

The top 5 most-populous places (by aggregated ZIP code population) sitting inside the 100-mile circle around Montgomery. Cities are listed by total population captured by ZIP centroids in the dataset.

#	City	Population in radius
1	Birmingham	501,720
2	Montgomery	205,496
3	Tuscaloosa	136,178
4	Auburn	80,251
5	Bessemer	73,551

The largest city outside the radius

Alabama’s most-populous city outside the 100-mile circle is Mobile, sitting 155 miles from Montgomery. The aggregated population of Mobile’s ZIP codes alone — 266,901 residents — illustrates the gap between Alabama’s political seat and its population centre.

How Alabama compares

The states ranked closest to Alabama on this metric. Click any to compare the radius breakdown directly.

#32 North Carolina

Raleigh · 54.6% pop. captured

#34 Idaho

Boise · 51.8% pop. captured

#31 Kansas

Topeka · 55.4% pop. captured

#35 Arkansas

Little Rock · 51.4% pop. captured

#30 New Mexico

Santa Fe · 57.4% pop. captured

Draw it yourself

Open the 100-mile circle around Montgomery →

The Map Radius Tool lets you change the radius (try 50 mi for an urban-suburban question or 250 mi for “a day’s drive”), drag the centre to compare Montgomery’s reach with that of Birmingham, or add a second circle for a side-by-side comparison.

Methodology (brief)

We took the lat/lng of the Alabama state capitol building (32.3770°, -86.3006°) and drew a 100-mile geodesic radius. For every ZIP code in Alabama, we tested whether the ZIP centroid falls inside; if so, its population counts. We then divide by Alabama’s total population to produce the percentage. The full methodology for all 50 states is on the hub page.

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). 100 Miles Around Montgomery: How Much of Alabama Is Inside? Part of the State Capital Radius study. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/studies/state-capital-radius/alabama. Licensed under CC-BY 4.0.