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Jefferson County, AL — Gas stations Saturation

How many gas stations exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 69 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Gas stations with a convenience store · Fuel + mart locations. Counted together because official statistics use one 447110 code.

Measured density: High density — 1.77× the U.S. rate (between 1.77× and 1.94× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 33 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 17 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

High density   Jefferson County gas stations — 177–194% of the U.S. rate

374 gas stations are counted in Jefferson County — 4.2 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 177% of the U.S. rate of 2.4.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has fallen 5% between 2015 and 2023 (388 → 370). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 35218 (Birmingham), 35020 (Bessemer), 35217 (Birmingham) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 35213 (Birmingham), 35214 (Birmingham), 35022 (Bessemer).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 358 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: Jefferson County sits at 177% of the U.S. rate for gas stations. 17 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 177% and 194% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 35218 and 35020; the lowest measured density is in 35213 and 35214.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing gas stations and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Gas stations
374–440
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (33 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
4.2
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
2.4
per 10,000 present
County index
1.77×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
358
2023 — $54M annual payroll
Residents
711,294
53 ZIPs with data
Workers
355,228
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
664,744
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
−1.5%
−9,983 people
Net migration 2024
+453
international +2,392, domestic −1,939
Jobs located here
380,425
LODES 2022, +0.7% since 2019

Jefferson County had an estimated 664,744 residents on July 1, 2024 — 1.5% fewer than in 2020 (−9,983). In the latest year it gained 660 people: births minus deaths +208, international migration +2,392, domestic migration −1,939. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

380,425 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+0.7% since 2019), and 278,008 employed residents lived there (−3.3% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
35091 Kimberly
+21.9%
35244 Birmingham
+19.6%
35209 Birmingham
+15.9%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
35064 Fairfield
−10.6%
35215 Birmingham
−9.8%
35127 Pleasant Grove
−2.2%

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. Census publishes gasoline stations only as a broader 2022 grouping (NAICS 4571) that also includes other fuel retailers, so a convenience-store-gas-station-only nonemployer count is not published.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more gas stations in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — down 5% since 2015

Number of gas stations in Jefferson County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

388
2015
405
2018
425
2020
394
2021
373
2022
370
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
35218 Birmingham
383%
35020 Bessemer
379%
35217 Birmingham
369%
35204 Birmingham
349%
35023 Bessemer
328%
35180 Warrior
303%
35064 Fairfield
303%
35117 Mount Olive
293%
35094 Leeds
290%
35111 Mc Calla
288%
35068 Fultondale
264%
35211 Birmingham
252%
35005 Adamsville
249%
35208 Birmingham
240%
35228 Birmingham
238%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
35213 Birmingham
68%
35214 Birmingham
89%
35022 Bessemer
102%
35173 Trussville
119%
35243 Birmingham
125%
35209 Birmingham
128%
35235 Birmingham
133%
35205 Birmingham
134%
35215 Birmingham
141%
35216 Birmingham
144%
35126 Pinson
144%
35226 Birmingham
175%
35244 Birmingham
198%
35222 Birmingham
201%
35071 Gardendale
212%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few gas stations may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersGas stationsIndex
35233Birmingham Destination 3,57036,512 4 77%
35203Birmingham Employment hub 3,50629,248 0–2 —
35249Birmingham Employment hub 1551 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = gas stations per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersGas stations Per 10kIndexStatus
35234Birmingham 3,8793,699 7 12.2 515% Very high density
35221Birmingham 3,119590 4 11.7 494% Very high density
35218Birmingham 6,9811,470 7 9.1 383% Very high density
35020Bessemer 24,8925,904 25 9.0 379% Very high density
35217Birmingham 12,2409,765 15 8.8 369% Very high density
35204Birmingham 8,9533,831 9 8.3 349% Very high density
35023Bessemer 25,5335,433 22 7.8 328% Very high density
35180Warrior 12,9731,855 10 7.2 303% Very high density
35064Fairfield 9,8722,550 8 7.2 303% Very high density
35117Mount Olive 5,606299 4 6.9 293% Very high density
35094Leeds 14,8545,191 12 6.9 290% Very high density
35111Mc Calla 20,3426,161 16 6.8 288% Very high density
35068Fultondale 8,3782,439 6 6.3 264% Very high density
35211Birmingham 24,92410,422 18 6.0 252% Very high density
35005Adamsville 8,247427 5 5.9 249% High density
35208Birmingham 13,4121,322 8 5.7 240% High density
35228Birmingham 10,216813 6 5.6 238% High density
35210Birmingham 13,77515,432 12 5.6 235% High density
35206Birmingham 15,6212,069 9 5.4 228% High density
35212Birmingham 10,1603,522 6 5.0 212% High density
35071Gardendale 17,2885,300 10 5.0 212% High density
35222Birmingham 8,3618,483 6 4.8 201% High density
35244Birmingham 38,21730,005 25 4.7 198% High density
35226Birmingham 38,5884,807 17 4.1 175% High density
35126Pinson 22,5991,678 8 3.4 144% Above average
35216Birmingham 34,32713,422 14 3.4 144% Above average
35215Birmingham 43,9037,770 16 3.3 141% Above average
35205Birmingham 18,85812,585 8 3.2 134% Above average
35235Birmingham 20,5269,771 8 3.1 133% Above average
35209Birmingham 32,73439,607 16 3.0 128% Above average
35243Birmingham 18,17624,309 9 3.0 125% Above average
35173Trussville 31,6037,699 10 2.8 119% Above average
35022Bessemer 23,12611,524 7 2.4 102% Above average
35214Birmingham 17,0273,756 4 2.1 89% Below average
35233Birmingham 3,57036,512 4 1.8 77% Below average
35213Birmingham 15,6036,088 3 1.6 68% Below average
35006Adger 3,894550 0–2 — — Not published
35021Bessemer —214 0–2 — — Not published
35048Clay —21 0–2 — — Not published
35060Docena 15865 0–2 — — Not published
35061Dolomite 1,554209 0–2 — — Not published
35062Dora 8,864667 0–2 — — Not published
35073Graysville 3,031346 0–2 — — Not published
35091Kimberly 3,802248 0–2 — — Not published
35116Morris 5,227347 0–2 — — Not published
35118Mulga 2,960223 0–2 — — Not published
35119New Castle 06 0–2 — — Not published
35127Pleasant Grove 9,442575 0–2 — — Not published
35142Shannon —8 0–2 — — Not published
35172Trafford 2,703258 0–2 — — Not published
35201Birmingham —557 0–2 — — Not published
35202Birmingham —193 0–2 — — Not published
35203Birmingham 3,50629,248 0–2 — — Not published
35207Birmingham 7,7094,006 0–2 — — Not published
35219Birmingham —39 0–2 — — Not published
35223Birmingham 10,6668,773 0–2 — — Not published
35224Birmingham 4,739508 0–2 — — Not published
35229Birmingham 2,7922,215 0–2 — — Not published
35231Birmingham —21 0–2 — — Not published
35232Birmingham —186 0–2 — — Not published
35236Birmingham —111 0–2 — — Not published
35249Birmingham 1551 0–2 — — Not published
35253Birmingham —98 0–2 — — Not published
35254Birmingham 1,749429 0–2 — — Not published
35255Birmingham —48 0–2 — — Not published
35259Birmingham —19 0–2 — — Not published
35266Birmingham —154 0–2 — — Not published
35285Birmingham —10 0–2 — — Not published
35294Birmingham —243 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Birmingham

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Birmingham retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Birmingham retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Birmingham retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Jefferson County and gas stations

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 447110 — gasoline stations with convenience stores. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 358 establishments and $54M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (2.37 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

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.